Friday, November 14, 2008

Latest and greatest

Wow, hard to believe it's been almost two months since I've added anything to the blog. No real reason other than I was waiting to hear how things look since I did my 8 weeks of chemo / radiation. Kind of in limbo land if you know what I mean. It's a weird place to be and one I've got little experience with.

Last week I had my CT Scan and subsequent meeting with my oncologist Dr. Martins (btw, no relation to the shoes). In a line, he stated I came through as good as they could have hoped for. My blood work came out very well with healthy platelets and white blood cell count back to normal.

The Lymphs are completely relaxed - " not hot"- and no disease noted there - the best we could hope for. All in all, it appears the radiation and chemo did what it was suppose to do.

The original mass is about the same size as at diagnosis; it has not grown since March and possibly shrunk some. The doctor noted that it is possible it is just scar tissue at this time. They will not do a biopsy on it. He contined to say, "I need to see you every two month for the next two years to keep an eye on things".

No further meds called for at this time.

One thing I found out is that due to the radiation treatment, my lower left lung is fried...as in non functional and never will be again. The doctor gave me a number (not sure what it meant) but he said my lung could withstand up to 20 and they gave me 60. Thus, no more lower lung. But that what is required to kill the tumor via radiation.

As I started to say in the beginning, much has transpired in the past couuple of months and it is an emotional thing and sometimes I'm not able/willing to talk or write about it freely - too many questions and too many things to remember. I know you are all concerned and I have rec'd many inquiries and letters of love from so many its still hard to fathom. I do attribute my success to date to the number of prayers I've rec'd from around the world. Please keep it up as I need it daily.

The last thing the doctor told me before we parted was to 'Live your life'. That I intend to do.

It was as good a meeting/appointment as I could have hoped for. Keep up the prayers and God bless you all.

Much love,

Randy