6 months later... Good news!

Last week I did a PET scan, and this week got back some fabulous results!

IMPRESSION:

1. Previously demonstrated hypermetabolic lesions in the liver and retroperitoneum have resolved. Findings are compatible with complete metabolic response. 

My ca125 numbers had remained low over the last 6 months, so things were looking really promising, but getting this scan result really lets me exhale and relax.  I have an oncologist appointment in a few weeks, and I'm guessing we'll just go back to monitoring, with more and more time between visits the farther out we go.  :)  I am so thrilled!!

Wait and Watch

My appt. went well. The radiation oncologist was happy with the way things are on the scan (although he didn't see the scan itself, only the report). But the fact that they shrunk makes him believe we are on the right track, they may still get smaller. He doesn't even think we should scan again for now, just follow the ca125.

Wow, that's great. So does that mean no more chemo?

I think so. But now I need to relay what he said to my oncologist who will have the final word. Not scanning, and not doing anything when there may be cancer cells still in me, makes me (and Ethan) nervous. But maybe this is the new normal and I'll become more comfortable with it.

It is certainly some hard decisions to be making.

More work to be done

Radiation therapy works by damaging DNA, especially of rapidly dividing cells like cancer.  It keeps working after treatment is finished, so I had to wait 3 months before doing a scan to see what was actually happening.  Of course our insurance company denied the PET scan, so I did an abdominal/ pelvic CT a couple of weeks ago, and it showed that the tumors are still there.  Smaller, but still there... 

Now I'm waiting for my appointment with the oncologist.  All I know so far, is that it looks like the plan is to continue treatment.  I did 2 of the 6 rounds of chemo before the radiation, so maybe I'll be picking up where I left off. 

I'm feeling surprisingly level about all of this.  These tumors were pretty small to begin with, and now they're smaller.  Chemo sucks, but I can deal with it.  Meditation helps and so does the tremendous amount of support being continuously offered by family and friends.