CT Scan Results

In the midst of this awful week, Ed had a CT scan on Monday and we had an appointment with his doctor Tuesday morning to review the results.  As our world is spinning around us, this event came and went and was hard to register in light of everything else.

In hindsight, prior to last Sunday, we were anticipating some "bad" news since Ed has not been feeling well (pain, fatigue, etc.).  We thought for sure that the cancer was progressing.  Of course, after the sudden passing of my brother on Sunday, we thought "how in the world could we get more bad news this week?"  It would feel like kicking us while we were down.

Thankfully, though, there was no bad news.  In fact, the results were anticlimatic which caused us to just move on and not really acknowledge that the results were not only not "bad" but they were "good".  I guess in light of the events of this week, it was hard for us to categorize and recognize this as "good".  But as I'm writing this I need to acknowledge that it was good news and a gift we should acknowledge and thank God for.

In summary, the CT scan showed no new growths.  Some very minimal shrinkage and a couple spots of possible growth, but nothing that Dr. Bowers felt could accurately be measured (they were talking millimeters).  Words such as the following appear in the report:  "stable," "slightly smaller," "mild decrease".  The final "impression" in the report:

• "Overall, numerous hepatic masses are very similar.  Possible mild progression since 11/28/12."
• "Mild increase in amount of ascites."

So our focus with our discussion with Dr. Bowers is managing the pain and fatigue.  Constipation is a large issue right now.  I have to say, I was reluctant to share with the world that Ed has "constipation".  This is one of those private bodily functions we don't talk about.  But then I realized, Ed has colon cancer.  And so if you're not going to talk about colons and bowel movements and all the things that part of our body is responsible for, then I would only be telling half of the story.

So here I am, talking about bowel movements and constipation!  And I need to because the constipation is resulting in terrible stomach cramps for Ed.  Ed has Ducolax and Miralax and whatever other "lax" products you could find to try to manage this.  So far he has not found the perfect solution but he's being good about taking this every day to help.  In terms of body pain (bad, legs, buttocks), Dr. Bowers says he needs to take the Nucyenta every 4 hours.  The prescription Ed has allows for this but Ed tends to hold off, not wanting to take it every 4 hours, like somehow he can manage through the pain.  Not!  So I hope Dr. Bowers convinced him it was okay and he should keep taking the pain medication every 4 hours to try to stay ahead of it.  And the fatigue is learning to manage his time/life better.  If he thinks he can do something for an hour, then only do it for 30 mins.  Ed tends to overdue it and then pays the price afterwards.  So he needs to unfortunately work fewer hours and rest more because it is when he overdoes it that he crashes and is down for several hours.

But this is new for Ed.  He is used to the first 1.5 yrs-2 yrs when he went for treatment and then went to play golf afterwards.  He had no side effects and so having to try to manage these effectively is new for us.

To help in the short-term and to give Ed a break, we have cut out the Irinotecan for the next 6 weeks.  Since there are no new growths and we are staying ahead of the tumors, we agreed giving Ed a break from one of the chemo drugs would be good (he will remain on the Avastin and Xeloda).  Dr. Bowers was clear we wouldn't go more than 6 weeks though before another CT scan.  But hopefully giving Ed a little break and with the fact that spring may be arriving soon, will help give him the lift in spirit and energy that he needs right now.