2 April doctor visit

I went to the doctor's office at 10am, 20 minutes early for my appointment. My sister Rosemary was already there. Took my weight it was 80.2kg, down again, though still overweight for my frame. The nurse took my temperature and blood pressure, she gave me the blood test report from yesterday and the week before( end of cycle 2). Last week's reading were good, Yesterday's reading I did not like, the CEA and CA125 marker after cycle 2 both went up again, 38.9 from 33.2 and 105.9 from 68.8 after cycle 1. Xray report showed some improvement but wasn't really conclusive. So Doc went through the history, what the results show thus far. It did not seem to be making much improvement, so we thought. Before making any changes he sent me for a CT scan of the chest. That was a 10 minute task but the queue time was pretty long. took from 11am till 1pm. The report would be ready at 3pm, fortunately God always send angels, my sister went over to my place to get the previous report so they could compare. by the time I was done with the scan, she was already back with the reports.

The CT report did not show anything major but it did show that in many of the locations the cells have hollowed out, looked like donuts, this is a good sign that the cancer cells have died. We compared the pictures and concluded that there was indeed about 10-20% reduction in the cancer in my lungs. many areas have reduced and cleared. We had both hoped for more. We agreed to start Cycle 3 on Friday but to add Erbitus this time. The full, most effective combination for chemo. We will monitor result at the end of cycle 3 and unless there is significant improvement, we will change medication to a newer medication for less aggressive cancer cell or oral tablet and not stress the body engine. If the result is significant, we will continue to with the present course.
Will start Cycle 3A tomorrow morning at 11am and will take about 5 hours, since the additional Erbitus will take 90 minutes on top of the usual 2.5 to 3 hours chemo.

See how the disappointment at the start of the day and the change at the end of the day. I was impatient for improvement but God wanted me to continue and trust in Him. Made me recall the reflection I posted this morning.

More updates tomorrow or in a few days. Praise the Lord.


Special thanks to all who prayed fervently when I sent out prayer request while waiting for the scan to come back. The journey is indeed long and bumpy.. thank you for being there when I stumble and fall... Jo