CT scan results weren't good, some details...

The doctor said more than what I've written, but it was speculation and hypothesis. I've tried to keep this blog entry to facts.



Monday March 7th, the doctors told me that the CT scan found 3 new tumor lesions in my Liver. Surgery isn't an option, nor is organ transplant. Also, my fatigue lately is in line with what people with liver cancer experience.

There were also smaller objects present in the liver that they investigated with an ultra-sound (also on Monday) to see if they were cysts (not related to cancer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyst) or more tumors. I don't have the results of the ultra-sound yet.

Since these new tumors did not exist after my surgery and grew during my most recent radiation and chemo treatments, they are assuming that they are resistant to that type of chemo drug. So, they are going to try me on a new type of chemo drug for 2 months to try to control the tumor growth. I'll be starting that treatment this week (likely Friday).

Side note: the ultrasound person stated that the area where the tumors are growing was outside the radiation treatment zone.

They also mentioned that if the new drug stops growth, or even better, causes some shrinkage, that they may consider a (relatively) new treatment called "Radiation Surgery". I found this short description of what that is:

    "Radiation Surgery: A radiation therapy technique that delivers radiation directly to the cancer while sparing healthy tissue. Also called radiosurgery and stereotactic external beam irradiation."

Also known as radiosurgery, here is a more detailed page about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiosurgery

The doctor seemed hesitant to tell me about the radiation surgery though, so it is possible I'm not currently a candidate, possibly because radiosurgery has a 3 cm tumor size limit. I also think it is expensive to perform (rare isotopes used), so they will want to be more certain it will be beneficial before using it.

-- Shane