Friday, April 25, 2014

Chemo 2 (Round 9)

Let me clear up any confusion with regards yesterdays biopsy non event. Divine intervention? Who knows. We are rescheduled for three weeks from now.

Two things may happen. Firstly, the CT scan before the procedure could show growth of the liver tumor in which case it will be much easier to obtain the samples needed for targeted exome sequencing and other genetic tests. This is good. Or, is it bad that the tumor has grown! Secondly, the scan could be done and show that the tumor is stable or has shrunk. Is it likely? Who knows. So which option is better? I don't know. Lets take a vote...

Im finishing up my chemo session for today. All seems ok. Weight is relatively stable, the bloodwork is fine, my vital signs are ok and the meeting with Dr. Schraeder was good.

This coming Monday I have a consult with Dr. Julie Brahmer at Johns Hopkins. She runs a trial for a new drug that may be very beneficial for me. The genetic testing should help with this option.

Carpe Diem.


Where the hell does this plug in?


Aah, never mind. Julie figured it out. She's the best Oncology nurse a person could want.





Thursday, April 24, 2014

Oops!

Well, I forgot that you could not eat or drink before any kind of sedation. So what did I do? I ate!

The procedure has been rescheduled for three weeks from today.

Here is the irony. The Interventional Radiologist said that maybe the delay was not such a bad thing. She said that the liver tumor was really small and maybe in three weeks there would be more to "sample". The flip side is maybe in three weeks the tumor would have shrunk even more. Positive news I guess.

So I look forward to chemo tomorrow. Yea right!

Carpe Diem.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Liver and onions anyone?

Tomorrow I am having another biopsy. This time on my liver. During my last scan the cancer had metastasized to my liver and bones. So I am having the biopsy (once again) to attempt to have some genetic testing done.

The irony is I need the biopsy to yield some cancer for them to test. During my last lung biopsy in December they did not detect any cancer in all five submitted samples. So ultimately I would like this biopsy to fail again but then there won't be anything to test! Oh what a dilemma.

Carpe Diem.