Today I met with my Oncologists. After a bit of small talk, some chatter about the last 6 weeks and my blood results we finally got down to the brass tacks. The question both Tracey and I were waiting to have answered - what did the CT Scan show us? And more importantly, was the immunotherapy working?
Dr. P started with "the results are good, you have a slight decrease in the pulmonary metastases - somewhere to the magnitude of 10-15%." Tracey and I bumped fists and so many thoughts ran through my head, thoughts like 'this is great, the crappiness of the therapy is worth it and I'm going to be here for a long time."
Then Dr. P said "but we also found there is a new lesion in the pancreas, the left adrenal gland is bulkier so I suspect a tiny metastasis on the adrenal." And then to wrap up the diagnosis she said "the lesion on the kidney is stable"...what? I didn't even know anything had metastasized there?
I think it's good news, but I'm not so sure. It's like anything new, when you are told all this information and the person wraps up you pretty much feel like you have it all covered....then you walk away and a billion thoughts, questions and feelings pop in to your head.
If Pazopanib is reducing the cancer in my lungs, then how can the other organs start revving up their metastasis engines? How does the drug not keep them at bay...or is the drug working and they are just overly aggressive. Were they there before and they didn't see them, or are they something other than metastatic images - they are super small so maybe they are something other than cancer. Is this a good prognosis, or are we nervous about the new spots?
Hmm. I'm going to have to call back and ask more questions.
Either way, I'm going to go Tigger on this one, I've tried Eeyore and didn't think that character suited me.
The cancer in my lungs has been reduced. so in the immortal words of my pal Tigger "LIFE is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce. Well, I gotta go now. I’ve got a lotta bouncin’ to do! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! T-T-F-N: ta-ta for now!"
