niececola Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Hi! I am so happy to be posting here !! We just got back from the doctor, all 6 of us , and the doctor says my mom is stable! Of course we were hoping that he was going to say the tumor had shrunk, but he didn't, and he then said the second best thing! My mom tuned the doctor out when she heard that the cancer was not gone, so I had to stop the doctor and confirm that stable is a good thing. My mom then turned to me and say, "Did all your friends on the board tell you that too?" So, my mom is going to stop chemo and start radiation on Monday amd we will reevaluate in one months time. She is happy and happy to stop the steroids, so hopefully more peaceful days are to come. And lastly, just a couple of questions to clarify some things: 1) He said they evaluated just the spot on her lung and there was no change there and no evidence of any other spots throughout her body. I got the feeling he was using just the spot on the lung as a check, but he ran a cat scan, so if there were any new growths, he would see them, right? 2) My mom's back pain is SO much better than when we started this whole process. I asked him if he saw any change in the area of the lower back. He said it is difficult to evaluate this area and that the chemo might have worked back there, but it is very difficult to tell b/c the bone takes a while to repair itself. Does this make sense to anyone? And lastly.. 3) Her CEA level (?) is 29. What does this mean? Clearly the cancer is still in her body and this number has stayed consistent from the beginning. OK, sorry to clutter the good news board with questions. Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers. As I was already warned that the doctor did not think the chemo was working, I never thought I would be so happy to hear stable! Blessings, Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzander Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 GREAT NEWS!!! It made me so happy to hear that your mom's scan came back stable! That's great! I guess all the praying paid off and maybe you all can go back to enjoying life a little ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 I can address 2). Lucie had bone mets and we were told the same thing -- that the bone takes a while to repair itself and the cavity left by the tumor is hard to distinguish from the original tumor. Also, as the bone grows back, it highlights in scans like the tumor. So it is difficult to tell how much progress is made on a bone met until the bone completely heals. But you can certainly tell that there has been no growth. Hope this helps. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natalie Posted November 7, 2003 Share Posted November 7, 2003 Terrific News Denise! I'm so glad to hear that your mom is stable. Give your mom a big hug for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmc Posted November 8, 2003 Share Posted November 8, 2003 Hello Denise; So happy to see you posting here, and of course so very happy your mom is stable. ; I think it's really neat that all 6 of you go. As a survivor I must tell you that it is really, really comforting to have that kind of support. Would'nt worry too much about the CEA reading, it can be caused by other things such as respirtory infections, IBS, and a few other things. My doc says as long as it's not rising don't worry about it. God bless and be well Bobmc- NSCLC- stageIIB- left pneumonectomy- 5/2/01 " absolutely insist on enjoying life today!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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