Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Not such good news

I wish it were better.  But the lung tumors are increasing in size.   The nodes in my neck are decreasing some.  But that doesn't put me at where I was in December because the tumor in the mediastinum is 1/4 inch larger, which is significant.  I should get the ct scan reads shortly and I will have more detail to provide but right now I'm in a bit of a shock.

The new Dr. that I met with today recommended continuing on the Tarceva for two more months to give it a bit more time to see if it is truly played out for me. And given the major rashes on my legs, my back and my face, I would say the Tarceva is doing bloody well in other respects. If there's no change or the tumors have continued growing by the end of June, we abandon the Tarcevaand move on to radiation.

Even radiation would not be considered curative. There is no hope for that at this point. All we can hope for is to keep the cancer in check a while longer. My friend, Diane, who showed up with me, asked the Dr. towards the end of the meeting if there was anything I could do in terms of change of diet, more exercise and his response was, "Just have fun. That sort of tells me where I am right now.

10 comments:

Amanda said...

I'm sorry. That was not the news any of us were hoping for you. I don't know what to say. Know that we're all thinking of you and praying for you.

Thank you for keeping us informed, even with the bad news.

Melanie said...

Amanda said it perfectly. We love you.

-Melanie

Susan said...

praying, praying ... and hoping that you *can* have some fun in the midst of all this.

Unknown said...

Oh Moe, I'm so sorry to hear this. I hold you in my heart.


Jolene

Anonymous said...

Moe, are you able to eat fresh strawberries, and are they ready in WA?

moe99 said...

No fresh strawberries, yet, r. But I had a batch last night that were imported from CA. Looking forward to the time....

odp said...

Argh!! (rends garment). Besides the not-great news, all this delay-delay-delay on the part of GH is so frustrating. (P.S. Is GH an HMO?).

My hopes and prayers stay with you, as always.

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear about your progression - I'm in the same boat after failing on Cisplatin / VP-16 and radiation, then failing again on Abraxane. Now we're looking at a clinical trial. I had a new CT yesterday and am getting a new biopsy Tuesday. No one can say for sure if I'm squamous, adeno or large cell - I have 3 different pathology reports saying 3 different things.

Here's the link to the lab that did my molecular profiling - identified many mutations, but the most effective chemos they identified aren't working so well.

www.carislifesciences.com/oncology-target-now

Good luck with your journey and wish me well on mine.

moe99 said...

Thank you for the information, Anonymous. And you know that you have my best wishes for success on your journey. If there is anything more I can do for you please feel free to contact me.

Moe/Regina

The Subtle Rudder said...

Aww, shit! I was hoping for different news, better news, but I am thinking about you, and hoping for you, and wishing I could do something to help you have fun. I would send you Archie, if I didn't know you were already well covered in the doglove dept.