The results are in and although they are GREAT we still have to continue with 4 cycles (8 treatments) of chemotherapy. Why? Well the scan came back clean meaning NO CANCER detected, but he still has a large tumor on his chest, swollen lymph nodes and a slightly enlarged spleen. When Dr. Beck told us it was clean we were so excited and Steve said "so I only have two more chemo treatments?" And she said two more cycles so 4 more treatments...let’s just say he wasn't happy and said a few choice words. Next we went back to the chemo room to start round 5 and as usually they did his blood work and to our surprise it wasn't as good as we could have hoped for. He is neutropenia (is a hematological disorder characterized by an abnormally low number of neutrophils, the most important type of white blood cell. Neutrophils usually make up 50-70% of circulating white blood cells and serve as the primary defense against infections by destroying bacteria in the blood. Hence, patients with neutropenia are more susceptible to bacterial infections and, without prompt medical attention, the condition may become life-threatening.) We did go ahead and proceed with chemo but he has to go to IMC tomorrow and have an injection of G-CSF (Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor -It is a glycoprotein, growth factor and cytokine produced by a number of different tissues to stimulate the bone marrow to produce granulocytes and stem cells. G-CSF then stimulates the bone marrow to release them into the blood.) Hopefully with this injection and a little more modification in his diet we can get his white blood cell count back up and maintain it so we can avoid further injection after later chemo treatments. Overall we are very satisfied with the results and we are still pleased that he will only have to have 4 cycles instead of the average 6 that most individuals receive. This round so far hasn't been the easiest about 2 hours after treatment he started to get sick to his stomach and an overall feeling of being ill. Last we did consult with the Radiation Oncologist last week to go over his original PET scan and to discuss what will happen once Steve has completed chemo. After chemo is over Steve will get a 3 week break then he will receive radiation 5 days a week for 3 weeks. The Dr. explained once you have a clean scan most medical oncologist will give you 2 more cycles of chemo then send you to radiation. Steve asked if I am clean why do I still have to have chemo. She explained to us that killing 99.9% of the cancer is not acceptable. We have to cure this 100% or he will relapse and he will be looking at a stem cell transplant and that usually means a month stay in the hospital....definitely not what we want. Steve asked if he could see the actual image of the original PET scan because he keeps hearing about this tumor in his chest but he has never had a cough, shortness of breath, pain in his chest, etc. She said yes and we went to her office where she pulled the image up and showed us. Let me just say we were expecting to see a quarter size tumor on his chest (figured it would be small since you are looking at an image) and wow were we wrong. He has a very large tumor that is pressing on his chest cavity and lungs. This brought back that horrible sick feeling that we experienced when Steve was first diagnosed with Lymphoma. But it also did validate how important it is that we continue aggressively fighting this even though Steve has been feeling so much better.
Thanks for all the calls this week checking in on us and seeing how everything is going. Sorry it took me so long to get this updated today.
Much Love To All!
