The Break Continues!

For those of you who are following The Saga of Jeanne's Arm, you'll be happy to know that I met with the lovely Dr. Lee today to go over the plethora (isn't that an awful word? Used it just for that reason) of MRIs and other scans I underwent last week.

The good news is: the spots in my right arm that looked like cancer to the folks who read the MRIs did NOT light up on the PET. That means they're not cancer.

That tidbit of info, combined with the fact that The Bone Guy thinks that the bone marrow in my arm is irritated from overuse, and the fact that the pain is getting better, not worse (as it would if it were cancer), means that things are looking good for my right arm.

I'm still wearing the brace, taking pain meds when needed, and trying not to use my arm too much (tough when you're a gardener). And I'll go back to see The Bone Guy in six weeks for another X-ray and consultation.

So that made me happy, although I expected it (except for the bit about there being no cancer in that bone--I figured I had a small met there).

Then we discussed all the other scans, which we are using to watch my bone mets and make sure they don't get too frisky while I'm not on any kind of systemic treatment (i.e., the long-awaited, long-anticipated BREAK), and there was one that is looking pretty "hot," a 9-something in the language of PET scans.

Now, Dr. Lee is a pretty calm guy. Not an alarmist, I would say. And he's getting to know me. So we dug around in my records from three or four different cancer centers to find other PETs that referred to this area, and sure enough the spot isn't new, but it is hotter than on the last PET I had. But we're still not panicking or talking about treatment yet.

First, Dr. Lee says, let's have the guy who read the most recent PET get a copy of the one before (from a different cancer center, so all we had was the paper report, not the scan itself) and compare them. "Anyway, it might be a typo," he says.

And--get this--he says to me, "What DO YOU WANT TO DO?" That's my kind of doctor.

I thought about it for a minute, and then suggested repeating the tumor marker, but no hurry.

So we'll be taking a leisurely approach so that my break can continue. Repeat the tumor marker in two weeks and see Dr. Lee again in three. And if this spot really is one that might cause me harm--you know, like another broken bone--then we'll treat it. I think I'll go for radiation rather than systemic treatment (chemo) so that my chemo break can continue.

But at this point, I'm not convinced that will be necessary. Wait and see and enjoy the summer--that's the new philosophy around here.

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.

Comments

[laurie]

Yes! I love the bone guys approach (and yours). Enjoy your break and may future tests only bring the best of news.

[Lisa]

I'm glad you still get the break. Enjoy the lovely northwest summer

[Jeanne]

Thanks, both of you. I'll be having a few more doctors' appts and tests that I had expected, but I am not going to complain about that.