More time


Jo-Ann got the results of her last cat scan this week. The third round of chemo did not reduce the size of her tumours. In fact, the one in the lung may have grown a slight bit. On the other hand, there are still no signs of further dissemination. And, since the first two rounds substantially reduced both growths to a fairly small size, her oncologists say that it's time for a break from treatment.

That's good, because she's gotten tired of being tired. And the damage to her bone marrow hasn't left her with much of an immune system.

In September she'll have another x-ray. If the cancer remains stable or only grows a bit, they will try to stretch out the drug holiday for as long as possible, perhaps even a year or more. Eventually though, there will be another round of chemo, with a different set of drugs.

Jo-Ann's given this the best spin possible. She didn't expect to even be alive this summer, and she looks and feels far better than she did before the diagnosis. Her chronic bronchitis has mostly cleared up, although she still needs to use a puffer several times a day. And she's believes she's finally quite smoking for good.

Eddie, her spouse, got some good news last week. One year after his bypass a checkup revealed the grafts have healed well, and he has a strong pulse in both legs. His doctor was a bit concerned to see he still has a nicotine patch on his chest, but Eddie assured him that he's going to keep trying to quit until he succeeds.

It helps that none of their neighbours smoke. It doesn't help that the other smokers in my family still think it's okay to light up in Eddie's and Jo-Ann's backyard.

Posted: Thu - July 24, 2008 at 10:23 PM          

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