Miracle on Oakview St.

Last April 28th I got a good report on my previous scan.  Since then I was scheduled for another 6 months from that point.  That was scheduled for November 9th (a few weeks ago).  It went as normal as a CT scan could go.  Since I have been such a regular at these I talked with the tech about how I have these every 6 months.  I told her as I left I would see her again in 6 months.

A week later I had an appointment with my oncologist to go over the results.  After a week of some very anxious feelings by some people we waited patiently on a very busy afternoon for our turn to talk with the doctor.  When he came into the room he told me I had a very good scan.

He quickly generalized the points of the report.  He decided to focus more on the things he noticed in my CBC (complete blood count).  Everything in my CBC was fairly normal.  The one thing he made note of is I have a slightly elevated level of Bilirubin.  Based on their test the normal is considered a 1.0 and my level was at a 1.2.  He doesn't want to ignore this but he wants to make sure we watch it carefully.  Our family is very familiar with bilirubin from when Leah's dad had cancer.  For those of you who don't know what bilirubin is a toxin made by the liver.  My doctor thought the elevated level was due to all the work done on my liver in the past 4 years.  I also had a slightly enlarged spleen on my scan.  My doctor believes these may be related.

At the end of my appointment my doctor said he wanted to see me in 4 months and then he said he wanted to do 1 final CT in a year.  These are very good things to hear.  If we feel there is another reason to see the doctor before next November then we call him.  Otherwise we resume normal life until November 2017.

We were waiting for scheduling shortly after that and I was reading through the report.  The one  sentence that I read that surprised me is the following "No liver lesions are present."  up until my scan in April there have been 2 lesions found in the liver that were just not active. Based on past conversations with my oncologist I was told I may always have these lesions and could eventually turn back to cancer.  

A true miracle those two lesions are not present.  Praise God for this great report and renewed Health.

-- Kent

And now you know...

Time to pick up where I left off a bit ago.  I last wrote on on Oct 27, 2015.  That post was 2 days before my dad died.  A couple days after Dad passed away I got the call to schedule my Port removal.  Since the funeral was on Tuesday the 3rd of November and I had 5 days off from work for bereavement, I scheduled the port removal for Friday the 6th.  A dear friend of ours drove Leah and I to our appointment.  He was and has always been a real encouragement when I am in a nervous situation.  As much as I wanted my port removed I was nervous about getting it done.

My 3 month check up with my Oncologist I talked with him about my gabapentin not really helping my nerve pain in my feet.  Rather than change the dose He suggested changing to Lyrica.  He wanted me to wean off gabapentin and then start on Lyrica.  I  started Lyrica about a week later and the change has been great.  While it doesn't completely take all the pain away I have a lot less pain in my feet which is a welcomed change.

Since then I have continued to have a great appetite and feel great.  Our family had the opportunity to take a trip to Florida for spring break.  Destination Disney World.  We were there 9 days and were close enough to 2 of the parks that we could walk there and back.  We were only on a bus a couple times during the week.  We rode a boat a handful of times during the week but we ended up walking most often.  According to our fit bits we averaged 9 miles a day for most of the week,  

While in Florida I got a call from scheduling wanting to schedule my CT.  This was the last thing I wanted to think about when on vacation.  I scheduled it for the morning of the 27th of April which was yesterday.  More on that in a little bit.

Monday was my Birthday so I spent much of the weekend and of course Monday celebrating with My family and Leah's family.  This included afire in our yard with Hobo Pies for supper and then a special planned Ice Cream bar thought up and executed by my best daughter Lydia.  Sunday Lunch was burgers on the grill and my favorite cake for dessert.  Monday we had supper at On the Border which is always fun.  I had a great Birthday.  Thanks for all helping me celebrate.

Now for the rest of the story.  The medical profession generally allows about a week in between the actual test and the Doctor's appointment to give you the news.  I meet with the PA from my Oncologists office on May 6.  So I shouldn't really know any results yet.  As far as I knew yesterday the scan went as normal as they could.  They to gave me a Birthday present.  Evidently when you turn 41 they take an extra delayed image to check your kindey function.

Today Leah met with our Primary doctor.  We each see him but I mostly visit my oncologist and see my primary Doc on occasion.  During her appointment with him she brought up I had a scan yesterday.  She told him we didn't find out the results til May 6.  He asked if she would like to know today.  She said yes of course so He told her that my scan looked good.  Again another good report.  Short and sweet as some may say.  I don't know if I should be offended he didn't call me to tell me first ;-).

So now May 6th is just a formality and an excuse to get a copy of the radiology report.

Another 6 months until the next scan at least unless my oncologist decides to bump this out further.

More in a few months.

-- Kent