Latest news....

I just got back from Meridian, seeing Dr. Handley.

It looks like for now, we will put the Y-90 (Y-90 microsphere radioembolization ) on hold. Until the chemo no longer works to control the cancer.  As soon as it starts to grow instead of shrink, we will do it. 

I will discuss this with my oncologist, Dr. Swerdlof on Tuesday.  He may want to push it forward and have me do it sooner than later. The two Dr.s are going to consult with each other and then decide for sure, but Dr. Handley thinks we should hold off.  

BUT it looks like I am a candidate for the procedure, which is wonderful news. And they can do this procedure more than once!  And it is minimally evasive, and causes only a few bearable side effects. I am excited. But hopefully the Chemo works for a long time and I won't be doing this for a while.  But if it's sooner, I am ready for it.

First they do a special kind of CAT scan.  They map my veins.  Second I come in and they do an angiogram type procedure,    They go in my femural artery, and travel into the hepatic artery.  This artery does 90% of the tumor feeding, while the liver receives most of its nutrients through the portal vein. They give me a small dose of the "test beads". They make sure they are going to travel to the right place. They also block some blood vessels so that the beads don't travel to the intestines, stomach or lungs.  They are 1/3 the circumference of a human hair. During the actual procedure they inject millions of beads.  

This should increase my time before tumors grow again by 6 months, compared with Chemo without this procedure. 

"a median time to disease progression, as measured by tumor size, of 15.9 months vs. 9.7 months for those receiving Chemotherapy alone. Survival rates for the patients receiving SIR-Spheres microspheres were higher at various intervals than for those just receiving Chemo. 

I still don't like the survival rates: 

"72 percent vs. 68 percent at one year; 39 percent vs. 29 percent at two years; 17 percent vs. 6 percent at three years; and 3.5 percent vs. zero percent at five years."

But those are statistics for other people. Not me.

^{Here's a little video (cartoon) of the procedure.} http://www.sirtex.com/video/usa_see_how_sir_spheres_video_flash.cfm

I'm doing good.  The only side effects I feel are Fatigue, numbness in my hands and feet, dizziness.  Other than that I have a little bit of nausea.  Still haven't thrown up yet...YAY ME! 

Prayers are always great.  I'm gonna beat this.  Then I will be a "poster child" for Kicking Cancers Butt.