Thursday, August 28, 2008

Good news, but not great news

My oncologist called me a bit ago and gave me the news.

The CT scan still shows multiple "abnormalities" in my bones, which are presumed to be little tumors. A couple may be a bit bigger, but he said that it could be part of the healing process as well.

The good news is that there was nothing going on in my lungs and liver. He said that things look "stable".

I do, however, have a couple of fractures in my right ribs. I asked if it was because the bones there were weakened from radiation. Dr. K said that it would probably be 6 months before my bones were stronger post-radiation. He then asked, "Did you fall?" I said, "Uh, no, but I did dive for the ball playing sand volleyball". I do sometimes feel a little bit of pain there and he asked me how bad it was. I said that it was minor and that it was hard for me to tell if the pain was from the ribs, from any swelling/lymphedema I have and/or was due to pressure because of the tissue expander.

I then asked if there was anything more that we can do for the bones and his reply was, "you're on Zometa, right?" I said, "No" and he asked "Why not?" I said that we talked about it once, but never followed up on it.

As I understand it, Zometa is given intravenously and is supposed to make the bones stronger and maybe more resistant to cancer, but i need to look it up on the computer.

So, like I said to Scott, "Stable is good. Nothing new is good. No new growth is good. I just wanted a 'we kicked its ass' report."

The fight continues. I'm doing okay. Disappointed, but it could be so much worse.

4 comments:

MisAnthropology said...

OK, not great, but good. Good is better than bad.

And maybe ease up on those sand dives for a while. What, have you been watching the Olympics, or something?

And now I have images in my head of Misty May presenting her ass to Pres. Bush to pat..... ::shudder::

Dee said...

Hi Mary,
Yes, I guess I need to ease up on any sand dives . . . it is fun, though, to dive for the ball in the sand because it doesn't hurt. I don't dive when playing on the hard courts for that reason . . .

I missed that ass pat by Bush ... when did that happen? Not a good image!

And, yeah. Good is better than bad. Stable is good news, after all. Means that the meds are keeping it from progressing.

Looking forward to new missives from you on the wedding industry! They do make me laugh!

Carver said...

Hi Dee,

I'm glad that the news was at least stable but it's understandable that you'd be disappointed. I'll be sending out good vibes that the next scan will be GREAT news all the way around. As ever, Carver

Dee said...

Hey Carver,
Love your fall foot shot! It took me by surprise, though!

Yes, I'm disappointed and thank you again for sending me good thoughts. I do appreciate it! it will be great news next time!