Stay the Course.

I had a great talk with Dr. F. this evening and the conscensus was to continue on with the current chemotherapy regimen. The shrinkage from the previous round of chemo was not significant and it appeared there was possibly more necrosis than shrinkage. Necrosis is the death of cells or tissues through injury or disease, especially in a localized area of the body. However, Dr. F. still has to get the final numbers from the test analysis.

My questions back to the good Doctor were about how successful any more of this chemo treatment might be. "Is it possible we've seen all the shrinkage we're going to see and that it is unlikely we'll see any additional shrinkage?" "Are there other things I can do to contribute to the success of this chemotherapy?" etc. Dr. F.'s response to these types of questions was helpful for me to put this into perspective. One of two things will happen. Either we will be successful in the continued shrinking until it gets small enough for Dr. A. to resect, or it may not work and we'll need to change strategies. We'll try something else. But for now, the best thing I can do it to keep going and use the Xeloda as consistently as possible for maximum effect. And somewhere in there I believe he said "kick this cancer's ass" but I could be wrong and if so, he'll let me know soon.

To be honest I'm not sure if I'm experiencing the relief of not having to have surgery yet, or the dread of additional chemo. I didn't feel ready to be whisked away to surgery quite yet. The photos of the tumor on my liver still looked tricky. Tricky to remove. I know, I know, this isn't a Milton Bradley game of OPERATION and an electric current isn't going to buzz if we do something wrong. And thank goodness it isn't me that has to do it. Dr. A. is a very qualified surgeon.

I know, I just pretended to be ready in previous blogs. It was truly the scans that threw me. Oh I'll be ready next time. I'll be ready alright. Bring it.

Chemo starts Monday. More to come.
Jan