Everyone Likes a Blasé Oncologist (Well, I Do At Least)

I'm in a mad dash to get ready for the Vietnam leg of the GCW Tour, but I figured I should report back on today's oncology appointment. In short, it was mostly good news. Here's the very fast rundown on events worth noting...

The recent scan seems to show that the tumors are at least not growing, and possibly still shrinking. This would be better news if one of my scans hadn't gone missing. According to this blog,* I got scanned at Group Health in November, but that scan doesn't seem to have made it to SCCA. So today's scan report was made in comparison to the September scan. So while the volume of the main liver tumor is a quarter of what it was in September, it's hard to say if that's a function of the Xeloda or the prior chemo infusions. Clearly, when I get back from Vietnam I'll need to visit GH and see where my scan went.

The oncologist was clearly unimpressed with the side effects that were concerning me. Back pain? "You probably just need to exercise more."** Blood in the toilet bowl? "Well, we could do another colonoscopy to see what's up, but it's probably nothing to worry about. It doesn't take much blood in the toilet bowl to look like you've been attacked by an axe murderer."*** Mouth sores? "I'm actually not seeing much. It might just be a dental thing." Fatigue? "That's pretty normal." In short, all the things I thought suggested the cancer might be flourishing, pretty much weren't.****

The neuropathy was a topic of extended conversation, as this is clearly something that concerns them. Interestingly, however, I learned that they don't really have any way to mitigate the weird numbness and tingling. What they're trying to prevent is pain and, potentially, getting to the point where you can't walk or stand. And I have to agree: those are good things to prevent. But since they aren't problems I'm currently dealing with, even the neuropathy was determined to be not a concern. 

So for now the status quo continues for another three months: an infusion of Avastin (done today), followed by fourteen days on Xeloda, followed by a week off, followed by a meeting with the PA, and then we go around again. 

Boring, but way better than the alternative I was preparing myself for. But at least now I have a signed will and testament in place...


* Actually, having record of what's been going on is actually kind of useful. I highly recommend it for anyone with a noteworthy condition.
** Quotation marks are for effect only. These were not the oncologist's actual words. 
*** Given the option to a) wait and watch for patterns, or b) get another colonoscopy, I went with the former. 
**** Woohoo!