From "I'm Terrified."

And still am, but learning to cope.  Just thought I'd give a little update.  I made it thru the first round of chemo (four day long sessions once a week) with little or no problems, cept of course my new hairdo.  I'm now halfway thru the second round, then we do a CT scan to see if any of the tumors have shrunk.  This is the part that scares me now.

If they haven't shrunk, arrested growth, or gotten bigger, my ONC says we'll try a different combination of chemo, then there are clinical trials if that doesn't work.

Three opinions later have all said the same thing, because of the mets to the liver, adrenal, and lymph nodes I am not a candidate for surgery.  Sometimes the whole thing is hard to believe, as I have absolutely no cancer symptoms at all.  I've lost about 10 pounds, and have the occasional "chemo crash" energy wise, but that's about it.  I'll keep you posted, and God bless all of you .

Mark

 

On 5/12/2008 MarkInMaryland wrote:

And still am, but learning to cope.  Just thought I'd give a little update.  I made it thru the first round of chemo (four day long sessions once a week) with little or no problems, cept of course my new hairdo.  I'm now halfway thru the second round, then we do a CT scan to see if any of the tumors have shrunk.  This is the part that scares me now.

If they haven't shrunk, arrested growth, or gotten bigger, my ONC says we'll try a different combination of chemo, then there are clinical trials if that doesn't work.

Three opinions later have all said the same thing, because of the mets to the liver, adrenal, and lymph nodes I am not a candidate for surgery.  Sometimes the whole thing is hard to believe, as I have absolutely no cancer symptoms at all.  I've lost about 10 pounds, and have the occasional "chemo crash" energy wise, but that's about it.  I'll keep you posted, and God bless all of you .

Mark

Hi Mark,

Sounds like you've been through a lot lately.  I know what you mean about no symptoms because I didn't have any either and was told right off the bat I was stage IV.  Unbelieveable.  And I know that scary feeling all too well.  I came down with a virus 2 weeks ago and my scans have been postponed until the end of this week.  The 3 months is long enough without adding any more time to it.  

I do hope yours turn out for the best.  It's a good feeling to know that the tumors have shrunk even a little and that the meds are working.  Gives you a little added push to keep going.  Just don't give up.  There's hope for all of us yet. 

You might want to ask your onc about Tarceva for future reference.  It's worked wonders for me.   And it crosses the blood/brain barrier. 

At any rate, good luck and keep us posted.  God Bless. 

Hi Mark: I know it is scary as I myself will Know when my MRI is complete on May 28, if the spot on my adrenal gland is cancer, If it is then like you I am not a canditate for surgery. I start my chemo on Friday, so I tend to read posts like this, so I know what to expect, sorta, as it is different for everyone. The one thing I do know is we need to be strong and keep hoping for the best because that is what keeps us going. My thoughts are with you and if you do not mind I will be scaried right along side you and maybe with both of us being strong, we will get through this. Just hope you know as I do you are not alone in this fight. Try to stay strong and think positive, it does help.

 

Evelyn

Thanks for replying....want to be scared with me?  Sure, the more the merrier!  I don't mean to make light, but I spend so much time thinking about it, and so much time being scared that my brain sometimes fires off the humor. 

Honestly, it sometimes does it at innapproriate times, like when a life insurance salesman recently called.

God bless,

Mark

Humor is a very necessary thing in this game. No apologies are ever necessary for humor. I always enjoyed the folks calling to loan money...as if they would want us anymore than the life insurance people would. Glad to hear you are feeling relatively well other than the loss of hair. It will grow back (my husband's came back in curly and the women love it). Good luck with your scans. We're back up next Monday and I'm getting a little edgy.

So sorry about the mets.  I am joining the others in prayer for you.  They are doing wonders with chemo.  Keep positive.

Just an update on my condition.  I met with my oncologist today and after the first chemo treatment regimen, the mass in my chest is now 1/3 the original size.  The esophageal tumor has gone from one largish tumor to three smaller ones.  The tumor on my adrenal gland is not observable anymore.  The only confusion seems to be about the liver mets.  The radiololgist thinks they are larger, but my oncologist believes that the baseline scan wasn't very good quality and that they are just showing up better.  He feels that there is no reason that all of the other tumors are responding but not the liver, and believes that they are smaller as well.

I'm under no illusions of a "cure" but this certainly seems like a step in the right direction, toward remission.

A close friend asked me today if I thought that God or the doctors were responsible, and I told her that I think if God didn't want the chemo to work, I'd be a pretty unhappy puppy today.

So, anyway, if it's working, lets keep working on it!  Back to the same chemo regimine starting next week.  Sure, there are side effects, but every day I wake up and get to thank God for another day is a bonus.

Never ever give up!

Mark

Hi Mark - Glad to hear you are making progress with some of the growth. Found it interesting that liver is not responding in same way. Have a friend who's husband also has EC with liver mets. He finished chemo quite a few months ago and is considering Therasphere for liver met since he appears to be a good candidate, and the side effects are minimal. His esophagus responded to treatment, (whether chemo or perhaps tong ren since the shrinkage actually happened several months after chemo ended) but the liver continued to grow. Wishing you continued success with your treatment