Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Wahooo!!!

Finally, some good news!
(12/23/09)

I had a follow-up appointment with my oncologist today, and the chest x-ray showed that my lung nodules have gotten smaller! Woohoo! Finally it seems something is working! We'll get a more thorough CT scan in another four weeks, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about things. My oncologist called me pretty much right after I got home to give me the good news. It's a great early birthday present.

As for the other two fronts, I've been able to walk more than before without pain, so I'm hoping that means the pelvic tumor is responding to the radiation. It still gets achy and sore after a few minutes of walking, but it's not nearly as painful as it was before.

The liver mass is a bit more of a mystery right now. The catheter is still in place, but it's not draining very much fluid anymore. My oncologist doesn't want to have the interventional radiologists mess with the catheter (i.e. try and reposition it) because the systemic drug I'm taking (Nexavar or sorafenib) can cause bleeding. If we did decide to reposition the catheter I'd have to stop the sorafenib for six days, and I don't want to jinx the streak I'm on right now. So liver-wise, we're holding steady for now. As long as something is draining out I guess it's still a good sign. Though it would be nice to get rid of this tube and bag that I have to carry around everywhere.

As for the sorafenib itself, the side effects haven't been too bad, although it's been a bit tough to balance the constipating effects of the pain meds with the whatever-the-opposite-of-constipating-is effects of the sorafenib. A small price to pay for beating down the cancer (woohoo!), I suppose.

Okay, that's it for now. I hope everyone out there has a great Christmas/holiday, and here's to a happy, healthy new year!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

First comment ever:

Hooooray!!

Maybe you should have birthdays more often. =)

Anonymous said...

Happy Holidays, Alex

and best wishes for the New Year

Dave Jaffe

Unknown said...

That's a wonderful birthday gift, Alex. Happy holidays and stay healthy, my friend.

Mary said...

Alex, I'm so happy you got some good news! I hope the new year is filled with much more good news and is a happy and healthy one for you.

Unknown said...

Nice work Alex! Glad to hear the good news. Oh, and happy birthday!

HomogeneousTransform said...

Alex, so good to hear that! Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year!

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