Mixed News

[kukla]

We got the results of Glenn's bronchoscopy and PET scan on Friday. The cloudy spots in the lungs came back negative for cancer - YAY!!! The PET scan showed that a spot in Glenn's hip is bigger with some inflammation and there are two new spots that they didn't see last time on his ribs, right beside the big daddy tumor who started all of this.

The oncologist also said that big daddy showed notable reduction in size, and that one of the other tumors is dissolving from the inside out due to the avastin, which seems like awesome news to me.

But the doc said since all of the spots aren't responding, he doesn't consider it to be as good a response as he would like. Glenn starts different chemo next week, with cisplatin, gemszar and avastin... Not sure what to think of that. I saw that cispatin can cause a lot more vomiting and nausea so I'm a little worried about that.

I work for our health system, in PR, and have for a long time. I don't know as much as a nurse, but I've gotten a pretty good education over the years. Sometimes I just don't quite understand all of this - it gets so complicated. To me, the main tumors getting smaller are a real success as he now has more lung capacity and is feeling better. What a difference from Halloween when we got the "12 month survivability" speech.

I guess this is where living one day at a time comes in!! Now if I could just figure out how to do it well. LOL

[Bruce u]

It sounds like your Doctor is not satisfied with partial good news. It is good that he is being aggressive and trying another chemo combination to even improve the results.

They have medication to deal with nausea from chemo drugs. I had some ringing in the ears from Cisplatin and have heard the same comment from other's as well.

[Larry's Wife]

Kukla, sounds to me like you are doing the one day at a time thing quite well, already. As for me, I had to take two days at a time. One day to absorb and the next day to get back into top fighting mode.

Prayers that the new chemo will give completely good news.

Lynn

[ts]

I'm on the Cis/Gem doublet - the nausea is well managed by the anti nausea drugs. My onc said the one 100% stat she could give me was that this would cause nausea, so just take the prescribed meds as directed (quite the cocktail.) 3 of 4 cycles down, no vomiting for me.

Best to you and Glenn.

[SandraL]

Hi there. Yes, that does sound like mixed news. It's good that he is healthy enough to go on another chemo mixture though. I wouldn't worry too much about side effects though. Wait until when and if they happen, most people experience minimal these days but for sure there are exceptions. Prayers that this next line of treatment cleans up the rest.

Sandra

[Barb73]

Often, the news is a mixed bag. That being said, any doctor who changes venues with a view to improving outcomes is on my dance card.

That very thing occurred with Bill a couple of years ago. He had been on Gemzar and the doctor checked on its effectiveness. There wasn't the response in a short/given time, and he switched Bill to Alimta.

Taking one day at a time is the best philosophy. Of course, we all know that many of us need to keep reminding ourselves. At least I do.

Bill was never on Cispatin, but with all of the chemos he has experienced, there has never been any nausea.

The meds for that are getting better every day. Although, on carboplatin, there was a hearing loss for Bill, which has not imrpoved over time. It's not so bad, but there is a lot of repeating of things to him. Even the neuropathy (in feet) he experienced on the platinums has disappeared.

Wishing much success on Glenn's next regimen, Kukla.

Barbara

[jaminkw]

Echoing Lynn's sentiments, "sounds to me like you are doing the one day at a time thing quite well." Hope Glenn has great success with minimal side-effects on this new treatment.

Judy in Key West