Summary of Sept 2008 cancer news


I posted this originally on the Facebook group "Pray for Mr. Hodel," which was started by one of the high school students in my youth group class. I must confess that the events of this month have put me back into working on the discipline of thankfulness and a positive outlook. With 3-5 coughing fits per day, each of which leaves me physically exhausted, it's quite a challenge!

[For those who want the short story of what to pray for, go to the last paragraph of this note.]

September has been another roller coaster month. Events this month:
- Monday Sept 8 I had a PET scan and a CT scan, which established that most of the tumor was dead. The glucose uptake of the PET scan was only 2, which is indistinguishable from a healthy person's. Once I was able to believe the result, I was very happy.

- Wed Sept 17 I had a follow on visit with Dr. C. Dobelbower, the radiation oncologist in charge of my treatment. He was elated with the results of Sept 8. He originally did not expect me to survive the month of August, so the word elated perhaps should be in bold letters.

- Wed Sept 24 two things happened: (1) I started to feel like I was coming down with a virus - you know when your knees and other joints have that sort of "not quite right" feel to them. (2) I met with Dr. Salzman of the bone marrow transplant (BMT) group at UAB. She informed me that after my last evaluation (in August) the group was strongly opposed to my getting a bone marrow transplant. She also informed me that she is still concerned about the PET scan results: earlier PET scans showed a lot of necrotic (dead) tissue, but the whole tumor still "lit up," meaning that live tissue was distributed throughout the mass. The Sept 8 PET scan shows only small, isolated areas that light up, meaning that there are small areas of potentially active tumor that are still there.

- Thu Sept 25 My knees did not lie to me. Ever since 9/25 I have had an upper respiratory infection that has given me a nasty hacking cough and has reduced my breathing volume to about 1250ml-1500ml per breath. Prior to the virus, I was breathing about 2-2.5 liters per breath. (A normal person typically has 5 liters of air per breath, but I'm down a lung, remember?)

Dr. Salzman called and said that the BMT group was still unsure about whether I was a good candidate or not, but they will start some tests to get some more information. The first two tests are on Thu Oct 2: a pulmonary function test (to test my breathing) and a MUGA scan (to test my heart muscle strength).

- Fri Sept 26 Viva and I went to the Emergency Room at EAMC from about 12:30am - 4:00am. I was coughing up very small amounts of blood in my expulsions (to be polite), but Viva said that wasn't a big deal. She was much more concerned that my blood O2 levels were below 90%. The ER doctor (Dell Crosby) ran several tests and an X-ray: no pneumonia, no sign of bacterial infection, white blood cell count was good - not too high, not too low - so he said "It's a virus. SInce you're dealing with cancer, we're going to give you an IV antibiotic."

- Mon Sept 29 the local oncologist (Dr. E Graves), in response to our emails about a rough weekend and even lower O2 levels, had us come in for a visit. She said not to worry about the O2 levels. She gave some other advice on how to try to clear material from my lungs.

- Tues Sept 30: Dr. Graves sent me an email to ask how I was doing. After my response there were several emails exchanged between me, Dr. Graves, and Dr. Forero's group (he's the UAB oncologist treating me). The team (Dr. Forero and Dr. Graves) decided that there's a good chance that I have pneumonitis rather than pneumonia, which is best treated by steroids, which they started today.

So: for those who just want to know what to pray:
- I would REALLY like to have my lung function restored. Right now I'm getting 1/4 the air that I used to.
- Because of the living tumor cells revealed in the PET scan, it is essential that chemo followed by a BMT be performed. I need to pass the PFT, MUGA and whatever other tests are coming.

Posted: Tue - September 30, 2008 at 10:45 PM           | |

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