No surgery….

We met with the radiation oncologist yesterday morning…his opinion was that as the cancer had shrunk in half he saw no benefit to surgery.  The thoracic surgeon agreed saying that she thought it would cause more harm than good but, didn’t rule it out if it became an option in the future.

So…where does that leave me?  We are in a holding pattern for the next four months.  December 22nd I have a repeat CT scan and we see where we are at.  I am going ahead positively believing that anything left over will just turn into harmless scar tissue and I am going to be just fine.

The catch word of the day is “neuropathy”…such an innocuous little word…but, such a royal pain in the ass…oh, that is right…pain in the boob!  Some people have tingling and numbness in the fingers etc….I am the opposite…I have too much feeling. 

I have gone from hot flashes to cold flashes!  However, these cold flashes run across my bust line and leave it feeling like I have the worse sunburn ever!  The rest of my body feels like someone has dumped itching powder all over me.  Rick is having a hard time because I can’t stand to be touched right now.  At lease he heard it from the doctor and doesn’t think I am making up excuses to avoid him!

This “neuropathy” can last anywhere from days to years before it gets any better…if it ever does!  Lovely side effect of Cisplatin….but, I have been told that was the best chemo to fight lung cancer.  As for my neutrophils…still tired and weak.  I have a bruise from the last chemo treatment on the 22nd of August and it is still there.  Each treatment the effects get worse and last longer…I am to give it another two weeks and if I still feel like crap with no energy etc. I am to go back to my chemo oncologist.

So…I am busy working on wedding invitations for two nephews and two nieces.  I am thinking ahead to Christmas cards.  I am working on three advent calendars for the grandchildren…I am looking forward to going to Quesnel for Thanksgiving…I am looking forward to 21-day Panama Canal cruise…camping.  As soon as I feel a little better I am going to order my craft room furniture and get this room set up.

When I have a few minutes I am going to finish my Copic lessons…I am going to start learning Pergamano…I am going to start Tim Holtz’s classes on using his products…I am going to be around a long time and I am going to do the things I want to do and play with all my toys!

Just keep swimming, swimming…what do we do…we swim, swim!

Don’t count me out yet….

First of three doctors…this one today was the thoracic surgeon….PET scan results are in.  Cancer has not spread…it is still only affecting my one lymph node and the same spot on my lung.  The two spots discovered just before treatment started do not “ping” under the PET scan…chemo seemed to have taken care of them.

The spot on my lung has shrunken a bit…from a twoonie to a loonie…to me, not very significant…the lymph nodes by my heart had no change.  So…no new cancer spots, no growth but, not much shrinkage either.

She is going to consult with my radiation oncologist to discuss surgery.  She feels I may be a good candidate (i.e. young and healthy) for surgical removal of the cancer.  This of course, all depends on how much radiation I had and the possibility of scar tissue obstructing things.  If I received the maximum dosage of radiation…surgery is not an option.  Fingers crossed.

So where do we go from here?  I see the chemo oncologist on September 10th, the radiation oncologist on the 17th and the surgeon right after on the same day then we will know what treatment, if any, will be suggested.

Still swimming!