Dallas here...
So we had the appointment with the oncologist, Dr. B., on Monday.
The short version is that the meeting went well and now we understand the reasons why things have been going as they have been.
Basically Dr. B. explained that there are a finite amount of treatment options, and each treatment may only work for a limited time before it stops working. Since the scans have confirmed that Pam's lung cancer has not been advancing and hasn't been causing symptoms, Dr. B. didn't want to "waste" one of these finite treatment options when it isn't really needed. His advise is to keep all therapies in reserve for when the cancer starts to advance.
His analogy was soldiers in a bunker, surrounded by the enemy, with only a limited supply of ammunition and no chance of resupply. The soldiers would be best off saving their ammo for when the enemy attacks. If the enemy is staying behind cover and not attacking, there's no point wasting ammo shooting at them, when that ammo cannot be replaced.
We think this makes a good deal of sense. Dr. B. assured us that if/when the cancer starts to advance he will treat it every way he can. Pam will have regular scans every 8-10 weeks or so to monitor the situation, and more frequently if symptoms present.
If this had been explained to us earlier it would have saved us alot of anxiety about why treatment had not started. However I think we are all on the same page now and we feel quite a bit better about the whole thing. Next brain scan should be later this month.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Micro-update
Dallas here...
Pam had her scans done a week ago last Wednesday and the results were in on Friday.
Basically the abdomen scan was clear and the upper chest scan showed no changes to the lungs, which we will take as being good. Presumably now the doctor will begin some treatment on the lungs, we're expecting an appointment soon for that.
This weekend we met some friends at the Corn Maze. It was fun but sure got cold towards the end of the day! Of course the "petting zoo" component is always great, there's nothing to match fuzzy lambs and kittens for cuteness!
Pam had her scans done a week ago last Wednesday and the results were in on Friday.
Basically the abdomen scan was clear and the upper chest scan showed no changes to the lungs, which we will take as being good. Presumably now the doctor will begin some treatment on the lungs, we're expecting an appointment soon for that.
This weekend we met some friends at the Corn Maze. It was fun but sure got cold towards the end of the day! Of course the "petting zoo" component is always great, there's nothing to match fuzzy lambs and kittens for cuteness!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Progress
I guess our "assertiveness" with the doc last week has brought some results. Pam has a CT scan scheduled for next Wednesday.
We hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.
Love D. and P.
We hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving.
Love D. and P.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Update?
Saw the oncologist today, "Dr. B."
Had anticipated that treatment of some kind would be starting, that was the indication from the radiation oncologist last week, anyway. Either Tamoxifen or chemotherapy, probably Tamoxifen to start and see how that goes.
That's not quite what happened, though. Basically Dr. B. wants to do another scan of the chest before starting the therapy. He seemed to think that this would happen sometime in December... but when we objected to this timeframe (!) he agreed to have it done sooner, like in the next two weeks it seems. Dr. B. did say that Pam was looking very well though.
We're getting a little frustrated with the process. However we are looking forward to the next scan in a short while and starting a treatment.
Love, P.
Had anticipated that treatment of some kind would be starting, that was the indication from the radiation oncologist last week, anyway. Either Tamoxifen or chemotherapy, probably Tamoxifen to start and see how that goes.
That's not quite what happened, though. Basically Dr. B. wants to do another scan of the chest before starting the therapy. He seemed to think that this would happen sometime in December... but when we objected to this timeframe (!) he agreed to have it done sooner, like in the next two weeks it seems. Dr. B. did say that Pam was looking very well though.
We're getting a little frustrated with the process. However we are looking forward to the next scan in a short while and starting a treatment.
Love, P.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
MRI Results
Just got back from the appointment with the radiation oncologist.
He said that the MRI they just did and the previous CT scan can't be directly compared because an MRI gives much better resolution than the CT. However the MRI showed a number of nodules, but they are all very small. So it seems that they are not getting any bigger anyway. I will have another MRI in mid-November to check again.
In the meantime I will see the general oncologist on Monday, and the doctor today said to expect that he will want to start hormone therapy, or chemotherapy, or both, for my lungs.
All in all it was not so bad. We weren't expecting to get great news, and we didn't get great news, but it could've been worse. We will hang in there.
Love, P.
He said that the MRI they just did and the previous CT scan can't be directly compared because an MRI gives much better resolution than the CT. However the MRI showed a number of nodules, but they are all very small. So it seems that they are not getting any bigger anyway. I will have another MRI in mid-November to check again.
In the meantime I will see the general oncologist on Monday, and the doctor today said to expect that he will want to start hormone therapy, or chemotherapy, or both, for my lungs.
All in all it was not so bad. We weren't expecting to get great news, and we didn't get great news, but it could've been worse. We will hang in there.
Love, P.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Update for Friday
Dallas here with a short update.
Starting from back at the last update...
We had a nice weekend away in Fargo a couple weekends ago. We visited the Fargo Zoo (yes, they have a zoo!) and it was pretty good. There was a building with a bunch of lizards and insects (including a very cool chameleon), a donkey and miniature horse, a cow (!), and camels. The highlight was the Chinese red pandas. The zoo has a breeding pair and in June they had triplets... they had not been out "on display" before the day we saw them. Pretty cute! The zoo also had a pack of wolves and we saw "feeding time" which was very intense, to say the least.
Last Friday Pam had her MRI at HSC. Now we are just waiting for the results that will show what effect the radiation treatment had on the brain lesions. It has been a pretty anxious week and Pam has been feeling not so great, the nausea and vomiting that she had before has returned. She's been back at work for a few weeks now, part-time, and that is good. We are trying to keep positive for the appointment next Tuesday when we get the results of the MRI but it is tough.
Anyway we hope everyone has a good weekend and I will post another update next week.
Starting from back at the last update...
We had a nice weekend away in Fargo a couple weekends ago. We visited the Fargo Zoo (yes, they have a zoo!) and it was pretty good. There was a building with a bunch of lizards and insects (including a very cool chameleon), a donkey and miniature horse, a cow (!), and camels. The highlight was the Chinese red pandas. The zoo has a breeding pair and in June they had triplets... they had not been out "on display" before the day we saw them. Pretty cute! The zoo also had a pack of wolves and we saw "feeding time" which was very intense, to say the least.
Last Friday Pam had her MRI at HSC. Now we are just waiting for the results that will show what effect the radiation treatment had on the brain lesions. It has been a pretty anxious week and Pam has been feeling not so great, the nausea and vomiting that she had before has returned. She's been back at work for a few weeks now, part-time, and that is good. We are trying to keep positive for the appointment next Tuesday when we get the results of the MRI but it is tough.
Anyway we hope everyone has a good weekend and I will post another update next week.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Long Weekend
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather this Labour Day weekend! (sorry if it's not so nice where you are ;-)
A little bit of news - I have my MRI scheduled for September 18 (Friday) in the evening. I should have the results by the end of the next week as I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist the following Thursday.
We were in Elgin yesterday for Dallas' grandmother's funeral. She passed away on Monday night at the age of 98. We happened to be in Brandon on Monday and stopped in to see her. We always stopped in whenever we were in Brandon. We got to Fairview around 3pm or so and she was asleep. So we gently woke her and had a short visit, but she was very tired, so we said our "I love yous" and got our hugs, and let her go back to her nap.
The next morning Dallas got a call from his Dad at the office saying that Grandma Ewen had passed away in her sleep. It is sad but we were glad to have seen her the day before.
The funeral was a graveside service in the Elgin cemetery. It was a lovely warm fall day with a strong breeze. It was good to see some of Dallas' family that we seldom get to see.
Today we've had a pretty quiet day but it has been nice. Went to the used bookstore by Assiniboine Park, got books and read in the park for awhile. Planning on a quiet weekend.
Love, P.
A little bit of news - I have my MRI scheduled for September 18 (Friday) in the evening. I should have the results by the end of the next week as I have an appointment with the radiation oncologist the following Thursday.
We were in Elgin yesterday for Dallas' grandmother's funeral. She passed away on Monday night at the age of 98. We happened to be in Brandon on Monday and stopped in to see her. We always stopped in whenever we were in Brandon. We got to Fairview around 3pm or so and she was asleep. So we gently woke her and had a short visit, but she was very tired, so we said our "I love yous" and got our hugs, and let her go back to her nap.
The next morning Dallas got a call from his Dad at the office saying that Grandma Ewen had passed away in her sleep. It is sad but we were glad to have seen her the day before.
The funeral was a graveside service in the Elgin cemetery. It was a lovely warm fall day with a strong breeze. It was good to see some of Dallas' family that we seldom get to see.
Today we've had a pretty quiet day but it has been nice. Went to the used bookstore by Assiniboine Park, got books and read in the park for awhile. Planning on a quiet weekend.
Love, P.
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