I heard from my oncologist around 5 p.m. today, and there's good news and bad news.
The good news is that the tumor in my sternum is most likely completely eradicated.
The bad news is that I have a small tumor in my liver.
The bad news is more bad than the good news is good, if you get my drift. The prognosis for bone metastases only is much better than for soft tissue mets, i.e., spread to (most likely) liver or lungs.
It's not the news I was hoping I would get, but I guess I don't get to choose.
I see my oncologist again on Thursday for my regular Herceptin treatment. As we discussed today, he will most likely give me a prescription then for an oral chemo called Xeloda, which is a fairly effective chemo without causing major side effects. It has this weird one called palmar plantar erythrodysesthesia, aka hand/foot syndrome. One explanation I read said that Xeloda causes thinning of the capillary walls, so that any place that has friction applied to it, such as the hands and feet, can chap, peel, get sore, and bleed. Another site said that the irritation is caused by the chemo drug leaking out of the capillaries and damaging the surrounding tissue. Whatever. It's recommended that you use lotions constantly, and, of course, avoid friction...which would mean no hiking or beachcombing. I mentioned this to my oncologist, and he said they'd work with me to minimize side effects. So I guess I'll start that this Friday.
Everyone dies. I just don't want to do it right now.
May
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment