Prayers sent.
I love FR and all the wonderful people who post on this site. And you will never know how much you all have lifted my spirits. Thank you and God Bless you all.
The news today was mixed. The good news is the cancerous Tumor in my lung is somewhat smaller. Not much but a little bit. That is not bad considering that it doubles in size every month and I did not receive Chemo until nearly a month after the last cat scan was taken.
The CHEMO appears to have brought the cancer in my lymph nodes under control. They are nearly back to normal in size and there is now no lymph node pain.
The bad news is that the existing spots on my liver have remained the same, and there is a new and larger cancerous spot on my liver. That is serious bad news.
This is what blows my mind. The Oncologist here in Canton showed me that they had misdiagnosed the type of cancer that was in my lung 11 years ago. They gave me TAXOL and a minor dose of Cisplatinum 11 years ago. He said the TAXOL had no effect on the actual cancer type I had, and the the Cisplatinum actually took out the cancer.
But todays cat scan reading shows that Cisplatinum is not working very well. So he gave me a large dose of TAXOL today! My memory says that I only got Cisplatinum after 15 weeks of TAXOL. In September, October and November of 1997 my memory says the only treatment i had was TAXOL.
It blew my mind. Eleven years ago I had 5 doses of TAXOL over 15 weeks and it took the tumors to 1/4 the original size. A months of Radiation and Cisplatinum and a month of just radiation cured me.
Now My Oncologist has put me on TAXOL again. The reason, he said, was TAXOL works on liver cancer. In any event I will get 3 weeks of TAXOL then a week off. Then 3 more weeks of TAXOL with a week off. At that point they will do another cat scan to see the result.
My records from Chillicothe hospitals Oncology department do not correspond to my memory of what I got in 1997. I know I had one large dose of TAXOL every first and every 4th week for a total of 15 weeks. I seem to recall that only 4 doses were approved by the FDA, but I got five. The records say I got 4. I know that is not the truth.
After 5 doses of TAXOL they started Cisplatinum and radiation. But the records say I got both over 12 weeks. And that in retrospect the Taxol was a waste. I know I had a cat scan at 9 weeks and another in the 16th week.. I remember having 3 doses of TAXOL over 9 weeks and then a CAT SCAN. The tumor was half the original size.
Then I had 2 more TAXOLs over 6 weeks. Some how my records say I only had 4 doses of TAXOL and I know that is not the truth. I always ask the Nurses giving me the CHEMO exactly what CHEMO I am getting.
In any event I had a large dose of TAXOL today. They started it very slowly for about a half hour. When I had none of the bad side effects, they sped up the injection into my veins. There were no side effects. EXCEPT I came home to my Daughters house very hungry and not the least bit sick.
I just ate a large 3/4 inch thick pork chop, two potatoes, a big helping of green beans followed by a large dish of Ice Cream and a 250 calorie nutritional drink. I am still hungry so I went to refrigerator and found some Girl Scout Cookies and am scarfing them down as I type. A big glass of milk and half the cookies in the pack should get me full. I have lost 10 pounds since starting treatment. I think I may just put those pounds back on.
I think I posted how depressed I was when they did not initially give me TAXOL. The Oncologist kept saying TAXOL does not not work on my type cancer. I had the same pain in my lymph nodes back in 1997 but they did not diagnose it back then. The unchanged spots on my liver could be from 1997 too. They didn't change and new spot just showed up? Hmmmm.
My research on line teaches that when a Chemo only works on less than 10 percent of patients with a certain type of Cancer it is deemed ineffective for that type of cancer. But it occurs to me that I might be in that 9 or 10 percent in which Taxol does work on my type of Lung Cancer and on my liver cancer as well
I will know in three weeks. If by the end of three weeks, my lungs are better and clearer, and I am breathing better, I will know the TAXOL is at least working on my lung cancer and I can hope it is killing the liver cancer. That is what happened in 1997. My pain decreased an my breathing improved. I was just very tired most of the time.
TAXOL makes one very tired and sleepy. I feel certain that it will kill the cancer in my body.
Once again thanks to Lisa for starting this thread. It makes me feel wanted and needed and respected. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Thank all of you. This thread is fantastic motivation to keep up the fight for my life. Thank you more than i can say.
I should remind you all however, what my Dad used to say. He used to tell other members of the family, "Never brag on Ray. It only encourages him!"
I know it is not logical but the TAXOL Chemo has stimulated my appetite and my belief that it will kill my cancer. It is just 4 hours since my first dose and I am feeling better and that is good.
God bless you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
ray