Well, I did the blood work..I had the PET scan and we met with my Oncologist. I had been preparing to hear not so great news. I was not prepared to hear what I did.
The PET Scan didn’t show any progression. It did show inflammation where my rib tumor is to indicate trauma or recent injury. OK…so I’m not crazy and the pain I’ve been having isn’t in my head after all. To rule out a fracture my Dr had me do xrays on the rib. Because the rib is compromised a fracture would make sense.
Then we talked about the blood work. I told her about the one marker Antigen 27.19 and how it’s been steadily on the rise and I’m now over the high end. She explained that in some cases blood work is ahead of PET Scans. So what she said was this PET could be a false negative. I asked about clinical trials and if I might be eligible for one. I explained that I want to get ahead of this and make sure that this cancer doesn’t get to an organ. I signed paperwork for the hospital to do more testing on the biopsy slides to see if they can get more information about my cancer and place me in the best clinical trials. If I can’t do a clinical trial we will then discuss tweaking my meds or possibly even chemo.
I’m meeting with my local oncologist this week armed with my PET results and blood work. Even though she isn’t my primary Dr I do value her opinion and input. She knows I want to get ahead of the beast before it gets ahead of me. I’ll have to be patient and wait a few more months before I will feel more comfortable in my treatment plan.
I’m going to stay positive and keep focused on being bigger than this cancer.