April 23, 2014
Well it has been over a year since Mike's initial cancer diagnosis (lung) on March 19th and his 1st chemo treatment on April 23, 2013.
Mike's oncologist had scheduled a repeat CEA test on Monday, April 7th and a repeat CT scan on Wednesday, April 9th. We had thought that only the CEA test would be done to make sure the cancer was responding to the chemo that he was now receiving and had received before. We did not think at this point that another CT scan would be done. Mike then had a follow up appointment with his oncologist on Monday, April 15th.
I am happy to report that Mike's CEA level has gone down to 141 from 949. The CT scan showed that the tumors in his lungs, which had shown increase in the February scan, had shrunk. It still states that the number of them are too numerous to count. It also stated that the tumor in his liver had decreased in size, again down from the one in February which had also shown decrease. I am still hoping that since the chemo has shrunk the cancer in these areas that it is doing the same in the colon. The last this was checked was in November which stated it was not seen,
After this appointment, Mike had his 4th chemo treatment of this round. He did ask the doctor for a different prescription for his nausea. He was taking Phenergan but that really was not doing anything for him. The doctor put him on Zofran. I had hoped this was helping Mike with his nausea. He looked better this time around when he came home from work each day. However, he stated that he felt worse after this week's treatment. When he has his treatments on Monday, he is usually sick through Thursday, but it gets a little better each day and by Friday he is feeling better. This time, around he stated that Thursday was his worst day. He also had difficulty with a stinging, pin-like sensation in his throat and he was unable to drink anything,
At this point, we do not know when the next testing will be. Mike is hoping to be able to return to Marinus am Stein in Germany after that. We have been in contact with Dr, Axel Weber there concerning Mike's recent test results. He stated he would be happy to have Mike come back to the clinic for further treatment (healthy treatment) for two weeks. We questioned him on why only two weeks. He felt that would be satisfactory, but if Mike wanted to have three weeks there, that would be fine. The hyperthermia treatment done there can only be done for a maximum of 3 weeks. It is something that is usually done every other day, but because they can target his two different areas (lungs & liver), he is able to have the hyperthermia every day.
Since Mike has now previously experienced a plane flight and the travel to Germany, we have decided that in order to save costs, Mike will go to Germany by himself. I am still a little nervous about this, but Mike will just have to ask questions or ask for help. It was a little overwhelming when we went the last time, but at least we had each other to bounce things off of and to try to figure things out. He says the toughest thing will be trying to find his way out of the Munich Airport.
We will have to wait to see how things unfold with his treatment and further testing, I will keep everyone posted of any further information.
Well it has been over a year since Mike's initial cancer diagnosis (lung) on March 19th and his 1st chemo treatment on April 23, 2013.
Mike's oncologist had scheduled a repeat CEA test on Monday, April 7th and a repeat CT scan on Wednesday, April 9th. We had thought that only the CEA test would be done to make sure the cancer was responding to the chemo that he was now receiving and had received before. We did not think at this point that another CT scan would be done. Mike then had a follow up appointment with his oncologist on Monday, April 15th.
I am happy to report that Mike's CEA level has gone down to 141 from 949. The CT scan showed that the tumors in his lungs, which had shown increase in the February scan, had shrunk. It still states that the number of them are too numerous to count. It also stated that the tumor in his liver had decreased in size, again down from the one in February which had also shown decrease. I am still hoping that since the chemo has shrunk the cancer in these areas that it is doing the same in the colon. The last this was checked was in November which stated it was not seen,
After this appointment, Mike had his 4th chemo treatment of this round. He did ask the doctor for a different prescription for his nausea. He was taking Phenergan but that really was not doing anything for him. The doctor put him on Zofran. I had hoped this was helping Mike with his nausea. He looked better this time around when he came home from work each day. However, he stated that he felt worse after this week's treatment. When he has his treatments on Monday, he is usually sick through Thursday, but it gets a little better each day and by Friday he is feeling better. This time, around he stated that Thursday was his worst day. He also had difficulty with a stinging, pin-like sensation in his throat and he was unable to drink anything,
At this point, we do not know when the next testing will be. Mike is hoping to be able to return to Marinus am Stein in Germany after that. We have been in contact with Dr, Axel Weber there concerning Mike's recent test results. He stated he would be happy to have Mike come back to the clinic for further treatment (healthy treatment) for two weeks. We questioned him on why only two weeks. He felt that would be satisfactory, but if Mike wanted to have three weeks there, that would be fine. The hyperthermia treatment done there can only be done for a maximum of 3 weeks. It is something that is usually done every other day, but because they can target his two different areas (lungs & liver), he is able to have the hyperthermia every day.
Since Mike has now previously experienced a plane flight and the travel to Germany, we have decided that in order to save costs, Mike will go to Germany by himself. I am still a little nervous about this, but Mike will just have to ask questions or ask for help. It was a little overwhelming when we went the last time, but at least we had each other to bounce things off of and to try to figure things out. He says the toughest thing will be trying to find his way out of the Munich Airport.
We will have to wait to see how things unfold with his treatment and further testing, I will keep everyone posted of any further information.
