Good News

We just got back from Boston for my next-to-last chemo treatment. We met first with Dr. T. and Jason to talk about my scan and what happens going forward. The scan results give dimensions and something called SUV for each mass, SUV being a measure of the intensity of the mass, how "lit up" it is on the scan. All three masses in my chest have shrunk significantly and become much less intensely active. For example, the largest mass previously measured about 10 cm in its largest dimension. That number is now 1.9 cm. The SUV's showed similar improvement, falling from double-digit values to numbers in the 3 - 4 range, barely significant. The other two masses had corresponding improvements. So I'm doing very well, and was right about where I should have been after four treatments. Thankfully I've tolerated the chemo very well, the last time being the best, and I expect this time to be at least as good. My numbers from today's labs are all good. Even the sodium is back where it should be. I'm eating well and putting on some weight, even getting some of the old pot belly back. So we're both very encouraged. My worrier-in-chief promises me she'll stop worrying now. And I don't feel like I somehow failed, which has been nagging me for the last week or so. As for what to do next, Dr. T. would like me to follow the chemo with radiation, as a kind of insurance policy. The radiation would start about a month after my last chemo and be two or three weeks of five day per week treatments. Most likely I'll have the radiation locally at Cape Cod Hospital.

Tomorrow we'll go with Pete and the kids to see a pair of peregrine falcons that are nesting near the Sagamore Bridge. Sounds like a lot of fun, and we're in for a rare sight if we spot them.