Scan Results

I had my CT scan yesterday, June 17th. My daughter joined me for the day at the cancer center. Her company was my father’s day gift. She got me some other neat stuff, but her joining me for a day at the cancer center was the gift I asked for. She got to see me wait, then blood drawn, then a peak behind the curtain at a cancer research lab, then waiting, then waiting some more while I had an IV put in and the CT scan taken. The IV is used to shoot iodine into my veins and acts as a contrast during the scan process. It was about 7 hours start to finish. It was a typical day for me at the center and hopefully a bit of an education for my daughter.

It's now June 18th and I’ve been waiting for an hour and a half to see my oncologist and hear the news of yesterday's scan results. I’m apprehensive. I’ve been feeling good lately, but that doesn’t provide much of a leading indicator as to the actual scan results. Feeling bad would be an indicator. But, feeling good is neutral in my book. I feel like flipping a coin or something as I wait. Heads I’m good, tails I’m bad. I just looked for a coin and don’t have one on me. I’ll see if I can borrow one from someone. One of my nurse friends had a quarter. I flipped it and it came up tails. I shouldn’t have done that. Now I’m even more apprehensive. This waiting is killing me. Tic, tic, tic. I’ll write more in a little while.

It’s now about 20 minutes later and I just met with my doctor’s physician assistant. Stupid coin toss. It was wrong. The preliminary scan results came back and said, “There is no definitive evidence of tumor recurrence.” That’s the best news I could hope for. With all the surgeries and scar tissue, the scans are difficult to interpret. But, any other news would be bad news. So, there you have it. I’m going to continue chemo for another 4+ months depending on my tolerance to the drugs. It’s been working so far and we’d rather err on the side of caution. My surgeon and oncologist, plus a friend in the lab, are almost as excited about this news as myself. It’s not time to say “we won,” that flag won’t be flown until I’m out 2 years from my last cancer recurrence in October 2007. This does however allow me to begin thinking longer term. So, stay tuned.

Thanks for checking in and take care everyone.