The Skinny

We just got back from the oncologist's office and we reviewed my recent scans and current status.

The big thing that I learned today is that in medicine there is little that is black and white. Things are really more different shades of gray.

Basically, as far as my bloodwork is concerned everything is great.

As far as the MRI of my brain is concerned they found nothing. (LOL - I always love to hear that. There's nothing upstairs at all.) But seriously everything in the brain has disappeared and there is no new signs of any abnormalities.

The CT of my pelvis showed everything normal.

The CT of my abdomen noted one odd, irregular shaped tiny little dot in my left kidney that has shrunk to just about nothing since first being noted in March. I found it interesting that it was first noted in March because this was the first I had ever heard about it. But it never was an issue raised in the past because it's so small that no doctor ever thought much of it. And whatever it is, it keeps getting smaller and smaller.

The CT of my chest raised the only question for my oncologist. A nodule in the upper lobe of my left lung was first noticed about a year and a half ago. It grew to its largest size of nearly an inch early in 2007. After starting the chemo however it shrunk to around a quarter of an inch in size. Now with this scan it increased in size ever so slightly. I mean a real, real small increase in size.

The oncologist was left with a decision to do an expensive PET scan or just wait and watch. The PET scan traces radioactive sugar injected into the blood stream to trace cancer hot spots, since cancer cells use sugar at about 20 times the rate of normal cells.

The nodule is so small that a needle biopsy, to grab a piece of the area for testing, is not practical.

The oncologist concluded that with or without the PET scan he would recommend the same treatment, continued taking of the chemotherapy drug Nexavar. So we came to the conclusion that we would skip a PET scan at this time and follow-up with another CT scan in two months.

All in all, it's not black and white, it's always a shade of gray. But I and the doctor both think that this is all good news. With this condition it's just a constant scheme of checking and double checking and triple checking. I'm feeling good about making it through another round of tests.

The only somewhat unhappy camper of the day was Barb, who was disappointed to hear that my weight had dropped to just below 180-pounds. But as I explained to her - I'm eating three meals a day, I'm exercising, I don't know what else I can do. I do believe that my weight is leveling off. And I know that I'm eating the healthiest things I've ever eaten in healthy portions.

But I love Barb for looking after my best interest. And as I told her, any ideas she has to put weight on me I'm all for it.