CT Results

Well I had some weird side effects after the last Chemo treatment. The biggest concern was the swelling in my feet and legs. So we did some tests to rule out major complications. We did an echo Doppler ultrasound of both of my legs to rule out blood clots. Then an ECG on the heart to rule out spreading of the disease to the heart or valves. Both of those came back ok.
Then we pushed up the CT scan a month ahead of schedule to look at the progression of the disease. Maybe we had some substantial growth of the tumors and that is why we have swelling, which could come from kidney failure or liver complications.
Today I had the CT scan. The preliminary results look pretty good. We do not have the measurements yet, and the Dr. was just talking to a resident and not the attending radiologist for the results, but here is what they said.
The liver metastases have maintained the same size since April. The Pancreas tumor seems to have decreased slightly in size. But we received no information on the Lymph node tumor. There is a 5 millimeter margin of error and we do not have the measurements yet, so I am not really going to get excited about anything here until I see the measurements.
Then there was the bad news, the CT showed a thickening of the Colon wall. There can be many reasons for this one of which is the spreading of the disease to the Colon. We got asked a bunch of questions about BM’s and such. And it has changed some recently. So we are just going to have to watch this now to see what develops.
He decided that we needed to get the swelling in control before we go through more Chemo so we have temporarily suspended that until the swelling is manageable. Right now it feels like walking in knee deep water. My feet have completely filled up and the water is moving up my legs, it is now up to the top of my calves. Also my stomach is swelling again. I look pregnant, and fat from the knees down, but skinny everywhere else. I really look like a cartoon character.
So we finally got prescribed a diuretic to try to get rid of the water. Thank God. It is becoming quite painful. I have no laces in my shoes anymore, and my socks cut into my calves about an inch deep.
I have another follow up next Wednesday to see how things are going. I will try to update the blog again after that to let you know what is coming next in the continuing saga. There is never a dull moment around here. You never know what to expect I go to the Dr.
I feel like I am strapped to a big wheel of fortune type contraption and instead of money values at each of spots where the clickers are there are symptoms and problems. Somebody spins the wheel and I go round and round and land on some new issue. Then we have to deal with it, and add it to the list of crap we are fighting.
That’s all for now.
Have a good week.
Thought for the week.
I want to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.