Today I left work a little after noon and headed to the Cleveland Clinic for my quarterly CT scan and visit with my oncologist.
My wife and I were a little anxious about this one. I felt like my breathing wasn’t as good as it felt a couple of months ago. It had been 3 months since my last chest scan and we were worried about the doctor coming in and telling us that the cancer had started progressing again.
I arrived at the Taussig Cancer Center and started the series of procedures that is now a routine for me. I pulled up and let a valet take my car. First I go to get my blood drawn in the lab area. They put in an IV to draw it because I’ll need it later for contrast during my CT scan. This way, I only have to get poked once.
Blood now drawn, I headed to the basement where Radiology is. After checking in at the desk and a short wait, they call me for my turn. Lay down on the table, arms back, slide backwards into the big donut. Contrast going in, hold your breath for a while. Done in 3 or 4 minutes.
I checked my phone and my wife had just texted that she had arrived. On scan days, she meets me at the clinic so we both can be there to talk with the doctor. She comes from work also but from the opposite direction so we can’t drive in together. I meet her in the lobby and we go to check in and wait to be called for my appointment.
We are called back and a nurse takes my vitals and asks all the standard questions. Then we wait for Dr. Stevenson while he is looking over my CT scan and test results.
He came in after about 20 minutes. He almost immediately told us that he had good news about my scan. I appreciate that he doesn’t beat around the bush. We were obviously very relieved to hear the news. In fact, he said things look even better than the last scan in October.
When he brought it up on the computer, he said that almost all of the cancer is gone. The only thing left were some little whispy traces on the scan that might even just be scar tissue he said. There used to be a big blob in the upper part of my left lung. Dr. Stevenson believes it was the main tumor where the cancer started. Its not there anymore. Its gone.
He said my bloodwork looks good, too. He remarked on how much better I was doing since we first met back in September. We had lots more questions and he answered all of them.
So, obviously, I still stay on Tarceva. It is working very well. It has killed almost all of the cancer in my lungs. Obviously, we are very happy about the news and feel a weight lifted off of our shoulders.
My wife headed to get her car and I headed back downstairs to check in for my other treatment. I get an injection of a drug called Xgeva every 6 weeks. Its a bone strengthener for cancer patients who have had the cancer spread to their bones. As the main treatment acts to kill the cancer cells, Xgeva helps the bones heal. Its a simple shot in the arm.
Off to scheduling to line up my next appointments. I will be back in late February for the routine bloodwork, a visit with Dr. Stevenson’s nurse-practitioner and another Xgeva shot. On April 17th, we’ll do it all over again. I look forward to getting the same good results then.