4/4/11

Scan Results

I got the scan results back.  Not what we wanted to hear, I'm afraid - the mets in the spine and hips got bigger, more fracturing, the soft tissue mets are still there.  Some of the tumors are slightly less aggressive looking, but most are still voracious.  About the only good thing we can say is that there aren't any significant new tumors.  Except for the one in the thyroid (oh, yay!)

Well, I suppose one slightly good thing (maybe?) is that some of the bone mets have become more sclerotic.  Which I think means that those tumors are growing more slowly, or to be more exact, the bone there is being eaten away less easily and is trying to grow bone around the tumors as a defensive response.  That said, the tumors in the spine and hips have gotten larger.  So although they may have been slowed down a bit, they haven't been stopped, much less shrunk down.

We've temporarily slowed things down from a gallop to a trot, that's about it.  Not a lot of benefit for what is basically the loss of 4 out of 7 weeks - to me, laying around the house too depressed and sick to even enjoy reading or watching TV is pretty much a net loss, as it's not what I'd call 'living'.  I don't think I gained an extra 4 weeks of quality life 'on the other end' in exchange, so I'm not happy with the results.

It doesn't help that the whole 'maximum side effects, minimal benefit' thing is entirely typical for me.  Just because this isn't a surprise doesn't mean it isn't a disappointment.  A very, very scary disappointment, one that does not make me feel very hopeful for the near future, much less the long term.

It's very discouraging, I must say.

Tomorrow we talk to Dr. Bouncy about what poison I will take next.  Should be fun.**


** Compared to being Drawn & Quartered, for instance.  Everything's relative.

6 comments:

krex said...

That is very disappointing news . I'm trying to hold onto the small positives but it is not easy to hear that all that suffering did not result in a corresponding reward . Nothing much to offer but cyber hugs .

Denise

Delighted Hands said...

It would have been nice to have a surprise here....sorry it is tough news. Hope the appt tomorrow goes well.

((Hugs))

Nancy K. said...

I am SO sorry to hear this discouraging news. I wish I could give you a real hug and make it all go away. I am so appalled at the blatant unfairness and cruelty of cancer.

Be good to yourself and know that you are loved...

mrspao said...

Hug xxxxxooooxxxx

Richard Hickey said...

Roberta decided to not do Chemo and Radiation because of the cost vs benefit ratio being too weighted towards the cost side.

I've been thinking of you and checking the blog to see how things were. Wish they were better.

Rich

The Violet Hoarder said...

This is tough tough news, for sure. Easy to understand why you're feeling scared, disappointed, and disinterested in everything. But even that will change, because nothing says the same for long. I hope Dr. Bouncy lives up to his name tomorrow. And I hope the warm weather and long-awaited green signs of spring cheer you even a little. I was just so glad to see your post today!