Initial Results

An oncology nurse called us yesterday with results from my chest and abdomen CT scans. All in all I consider the results OK.

Everytime I have received results I have never considered them great. They're difficult to understand, each one seems to get read differently, and there's always something of concern noted.

So . . .

First of all, a good sign is that a nurse called with the results instead of the doctor. The Lancaster General Hospital Cancer Center recently hired a new director and he's been changing some policies. One of those changes was that doctors must phone patients about scan results (nurses always called in the past), unless there wasn't anything serious, and then a nurse could call.

So . . . that's a positive sign.

Second, for the scan itself, everything was exactly the same, completely unchanged from my January scans except for two things.

There is a "nodule" in the upper lobe of my left lung that has been present since we first suspected that the cancer had spread. This "nodule" has been very small, then it has grown to an inch, then it has shrunk back to about a quarter of an inch in size. Now this nodule is measuring about a half an inch. It has been the long-lasting, incredible shrinking/growing tumor.

The only other new item that was noted was a speck on my liver. Now this new development I was not fond of hearing about. But from the report, the speck is so small it can't be measured and it can't be defined.

So . . . I can't help but worry about these things. But all in all it doesn't sound like a tremendous amount to worry about, at least not yet.

I meet with the oncologist Tuesday to discuss all of this and I'm sure I'll find more clarity and understanding then. One of my biggest concerns at this point is that the doctor will decide to switch my chemotherapy from the tablet-form Nexavar to the IV-based Torisel. Torisel is the newest drug released in the kidney cancer fight. It is delivered once a week, for about 30-minutes, via IV at the doctor's office. That would be quite a switch in lifestyle for me, and I've heard the side-effects can be pretty rough.

So . . . overall I think the results are pretty good. Certainly we don't see any signs of aggressive spreading.

I've always wondered whether the "nodule" in the left lung is actually a tumor because I swear the doctor described it to me as long and slender (not typical tumor dimensions). And another doctor once said to me about that "nodule" - "if it even is a tumor."

And undefined small specks tend to turn up on these scans all the time. So I can't make too much out of the speck on the liver until it at least shows itself as something of concern.

As I said, these results are never just good or bad. There is always a lot of gray. For all of our advances in medicine, we will never perfect the complexities of God's creations.