Best Day of My Life

Best Day of My Life - American Authors I do not own the rights to this music or this picture

If you read my last couple of blogs, you know last Monday was a stellar day and one of the best days of my life .... until today.

The doctor posted my PET results this afternoon. This is a BIG DEAL! I am usually sending him messages by Wednesday, begging that he load the PET results, promising him I won't fall apart or repeat call his office for an explanation. Basically, I wanted them so that Mike and I have a chance to digest the results, fall apart for a few minutes, then pick ourselves back up and start making a list of questions for a Friday appointment. So to have the results loaded within 24-hours of the scan is not something we've experienced ... because the results have not been good. To top it off, tumor marker results were loaded, too. Shut the front door! My doc is on a roll!!

Two tumor markers went down, one went up a little. Still not bad for an "off week". We will check tumor markers again in two weeks.  Here is were we are now:

CEA    3.2    Down 61%   

CA-15-3    183.8    Down 64%    

CA-27-29  Down 50%

The CA15-3 is up slightly and the CA27-29 is down slightly. They cancel each other out.

Now for the PET. We have decrease across the board, no new lesions, nothing ... I repeat, nothing ... showed any progression.  Here are the details:

FINDINGS:

CHEST:

Lungs: Stable biapical pleural parenchymal scarring.

Pleura: No pleural effusion, pleural mass, or pneumothorax is noted. No abnormal FDG activity is seen in the pleura.

ABDOMEN AND PELVIS:

Liver: Positive treatment response of hepatic metastases. Index lesions are detailed below:

* Segment 2 mass; SUV max 8.6; previously 21.2.

* Segment 4/5 lesion; SUV max 7.4; previously 14.8.

Kidneys: Chronic atrophy of the left kidney.

Lymph Nodes: Positive treatment response of lymph node metastases above and below the diaphragm. Index

lesions are detailed below:

* Left supraclavicular lymph node; 20 x 15 mm, previously 23 x 23 mm; SUV max 8.4, previously 13.4. - This is the one I can feel; we named him Voldemort.

* Subcarinal; 11 x 6 mm, previously 12 x 8 mm; SUV max 5.6, previously 7.5.

* Portacaval lymph node; 19 x 15 mm, previously 27 x 15 mm; SUV max 7.4, previously 22.9.

Bones and Soft Tissues: Positive treatment response of osseous metastases. Index lesions are detailed below:

* Right lateral fourth rib; SUV max 8.0; previously 9.6.

* Left posterior acetabular lesion; SUV max 5.9; previously 16.3.

* Left mid iliac bone lesion; SUV max 3.3; previously SUV max 6.2.

*Multilevel degenerative changes of the spine.

PET/CT

IMPRESSION:

1. Positive treatment response of lymph node metastases above and below the diaphragm.

2. Positive treatment response of hepatic metastases.

3. Positive treatment response of osseous metastases.

4. Brain metastases noted on prior MRI not well depicted with PET/CT.  They can't see the brain mets!!

Bottom line, MY CHEMO IS WORKING!!! Whoop!

Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes. They are paying off.  Keep it up!