Tomorrow... 3 month results!
I had my first CAT scan on Friday, since I started the Xeloda 4 cycles ago. This scan is to get results for three things:
1) are there any new growths anywhere that we were not aware of on the previous scan?
2) are the two tumours in the lungs that showed they were starting to grow, now started responding to the Xeloda and are showing signs of shrinking?
3) The growth in my kidney... has it responded to the Xeloda, or is it merrily growing away on it's own, oblivious to any Xeloda chemo running through my system?
The first point is a given... they check for new growths every time we get a scan. So that doesn't freak me out. The second point, my gut feeling is that of course the two tumours are responding to the chemo... why wouldn't they?? Not only that, all the little tiny ones that were being very lazy and not doing anything for the last three years, they should be shrinking away to nothing (says my gut feeling).
The third point... that's the enigma. IF it is responding to the Xeloda, then we will know that it is a spread of the colon cancer, which means that the damn bugger has spread to my adrenal gland (which I had surgically removed, multiple nodules in both lungs (which I'm hoping the Xeloda is dealing with) and now a spread to the kidney (which hopefully the Xeloda will deal with that as well). If the growth in the kidney is NOT responding to the Xeloda, then they feel that will mean this is a new primary cancer (Kidney Cancer). We will then discuss the treatment plan for that, of which we were talking just blasting it away with an RFA procedure and be done with it.
Soooo... the results, no matter what they are will mean there's more to do. Continuation of the Xeloda plus an RFA procedure, or ???
Soooooo... wish me luck, gang!! I think what I'd like it to be is a new primary cancer. That we can deal with with the RFA procedure and then I can at least be relieved that the colon cancer has not spread
Cheryl
Comments
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Good luck on your results. Nobody likes the scans or waiting for the results. They do tend to keep us on edge. Keep us posted.
Kim0 -
CherylHollyID said:Cheryl...
Good luck, girl! We're all in your corner.
Love and Hugs,
Holly
hello darling girl...I was so glad/sad to see you posting here again after my stint in the northern woods. You have been missed...my girl.
I am so sorry to hear of your latest complications.
Sending you big Canadian hugs, a Timmie's and all best wishes for good results.....
by the way you look like a million bucks...love your photo
hugs, mags0 -
Cheryl....luv3jay said:Sending positive thoughts
Sending positive thoughts your way.
Sheri
"TAKE A DEEP BREATH...... BREATHE..." hummmm...seems I've heard that before...LOL. Those darn scans you just can't help but wonder.... and think all kinds of stuff. So while were thinking lets just stay thinking good.... like you're doing and like you always do. Heck... you already got a game plan for the "ifs"...... gotta stay one step ahead..... AGAIN... you always do!!!! Take care my friend and let us know as soon as you can.
Jennie0 -
Fingers crossed
Hoping for the best possible news for you on the results!
Marie who loves kitties0 -
Good luck and let us knowLovekitties said:Fingers crossed
Hoping for the best possible news for you on the results!
Marie who loves kitties
Good luck and let us know soon!0 -
GOOD NEWS!!
Wow... we need a shot of good news and hope around here.... I was beginning to wonder if the moon and stars had collided or something. Not only am I ecstatic about today's results, but I'm thrilled that it can show others, especially the new folk who are probably wondering if the news is going to be bad, one by one.
Well, I'm here to turn it around... I started it and I want others to join in and we can have one great big Group Celebration!!
The three month scan could not be any better!! My oncologist had said that we were going to start off on the Xeloda (pronounced Za-Lauda... I had no idea!) but if that didn't show any sign of shrinkage then it would be back to the pump with the infusion of chemo. She felt that if we saw any sign of shrinkage then that is exactly where we would want to be at three months on Xeloda. Well... shrinkage we had! The worst of the problem tumours shrunk by 1/3!!! That's right... in three months, each of the tumours shrunk by 1/3 of their size they were three months ago. So the lung tumours are responding very very well to the Xeloda.
The kidney growth is also shrinking so I said, "Rats... I guess that means that it IS a colon met" and she said, "Not necessarily. If it is kidney cancer, it's quite possible that it is responding to the Xeloda because this particular chemo is being used for more and more different cancers." Either way, she says she doesn't really care what kind of cancer it may or may not be... she would just like it out of there. Soooo, since it is showing signs of responding to the chemo and shrinking, we are going to stay on the Xeloda for another 4 cycles (3 months) and will have another scan in December. As long as the kidney tumour is shrinking that's fine... but the minute it stops shrinking, then off with it's head! We are going to have it zapped by RFA. The reason for letting it shrink rather than go in right now and zap it.... the smaller it is, the less Dr. So has to zap... and as long as it's shrinking, it's not hurting anything
So I beez doing the Happy Shrinking Dance
Thank you, thank you for all your wonderful thoughts and good energy!!
Huggggggs,
Cheryl0 -
"Party On, Wayne".....CherylHutch said:GOOD NEWS!!
Wow... we need a shot of good news and hope around here.... I was beginning to wonder if the moon and stars had collided or something. Not only am I ecstatic about today's results, but I'm thrilled that it can show others, especially the new folk who are probably wondering if the news is going to be bad, one by one.
Well, I'm here to turn it around... I started it and I want others to join in and we can have one great big Group Celebration!!
The three month scan could not be any better!! My oncologist had said that we were going to start off on the Xeloda (pronounced Za-Lauda... I had no idea!) but if that didn't show any sign of shrinkage then it would be back to the pump with the infusion of chemo. She felt that if we saw any sign of shrinkage then that is exactly where we would want to be at three months on Xeloda. Well... shrinkage we had! The worst of the problem tumours shrunk by 1/3!!! That's right... in three months, each of the tumours shrunk by 1/3 of their size they were three months ago. So the lung tumours are responding very very well to the Xeloda.
The kidney growth is also shrinking so I said, "Rats... I guess that means that it IS a colon met" and she said, "Not necessarily. If it is kidney cancer, it's quite possible that it is responding to the Xeloda because this particular chemo is being used for more and more different cancers." Either way, she says she doesn't really care what kind of cancer it may or may not be... she would just like it out of there. Soooo, since it is showing signs of responding to the chemo and shrinking, we are going to stay on the Xeloda for another 4 cycles (3 months) and will have another scan in December. As long as the kidney tumour is shrinking that's fine... but the minute it stops shrinking, then off with it's head! We are going to have it zapped by RFA. The reason for letting it shrink rather than go in right now and zap it.... the smaller it is, the less Dr. So has to zap... and as long as it's shrinking, it's not hurting anything
So I beez doing the Happy Shrinking Dance
Thank you, thank you for all your wonderful thoughts and good energy!!
Huggggggs,
Cheryl
Sounds like a great plan, Cheryl. Congrats on the good news and hope it continues to favors you:)
-Craig0 -
I will do the dance withCherylHutch said:GOOD NEWS!!
Wow... we need a shot of good news and hope around here.... I was beginning to wonder if the moon and stars had collided or something. Not only am I ecstatic about today's results, but I'm thrilled that it can show others, especially the new folk who are probably wondering if the news is going to be bad, one by one.
Well, I'm here to turn it around... I started it and I want others to join in and we can have one great big Group Celebration!!
The three month scan could not be any better!! My oncologist had said that we were going to start off on the Xeloda (pronounced Za-Lauda... I had no idea!) but if that didn't show any sign of shrinkage then it would be back to the pump with the infusion of chemo. She felt that if we saw any sign of shrinkage then that is exactly where we would want to be at three months on Xeloda. Well... shrinkage we had! The worst of the problem tumours shrunk by 1/3!!! That's right... in three months, each of the tumours shrunk by 1/3 of their size they were three months ago. So the lung tumours are responding very very well to the Xeloda.
The kidney growth is also shrinking so I said, "Rats... I guess that means that it IS a colon met" and she said, "Not necessarily. If it is kidney cancer, it's quite possible that it is responding to the Xeloda because this particular chemo is being used for more and more different cancers." Either way, she says she doesn't really care what kind of cancer it may or may not be... she would just like it out of there. Soooo, since it is showing signs of responding to the chemo and shrinking, we are going to stay on the Xeloda for another 4 cycles (3 months) and will have another scan in December. As long as the kidney tumour is shrinking that's fine... but the minute it stops shrinking, then off with it's head! We are going to have it zapped by RFA. The reason for letting it shrink rather than go in right now and zap it.... the smaller it is, the less Dr. So has to zap... and as long as it's shrinking, it's not hurting anything
So I beez doing the Happy Shrinking Dance
Thank you, thank you for all your wonderful thoughts and good energy!!
Huggggggs,
Cheryl
I will do the dance with you.
Peace and Calm,
Christine~0 -
Thanks!! ::dance dance dance::lisa42 said:hooray!
Cheryl,
This is wonderful news!!!!! SO glad for you!!!
Lisa
Hehehe... I came right here to this topic to post the good news and thought I was starting a new trend... but I see we have other good news too... so the trend has definitely started!! We need to have more good news stories to offset the sad ones that we've had kick us all in the stomach over and over again this past month or so.
But good news is out there... and I wish it for every single one of us!
Cheryl0 -
Zel-O-duhCherylHutch said:GOOD NEWS!!
Wow... we need a shot of good news and hope around here.... I was beginning to wonder if the moon and stars had collided or something. Not only am I ecstatic about today's results, but I'm thrilled that it can show others, especially the new folk who are probably wondering if the news is going to be bad, one by one.
Well, I'm here to turn it around... I started it and I want others to join in and we can have one great big Group Celebration!!
The three month scan could not be any better!! My oncologist had said that we were going to start off on the Xeloda (pronounced Za-Lauda... I had no idea!) but if that didn't show any sign of shrinkage then it would be back to the pump with the infusion of chemo. She felt that if we saw any sign of shrinkage then that is exactly where we would want to be at three months on Xeloda. Well... shrinkage we had! The worst of the problem tumours shrunk by 1/3!!! That's right... in three months, each of the tumours shrunk by 1/3 of their size they were three months ago. So the lung tumours are responding very very well to the Xeloda.
The kidney growth is also shrinking so I said, "Rats... I guess that means that it IS a colon met" and she said, "Not necessarily. If it is kidney cancer, it's quite possible that it is responding to the Xeloda because this particular chemo is being used for more and more different cancers." Either way, she says she doesn't really care what kind of cancer it may or may not be... she would just like it out of there. Soooo, since it is showing signs of responding to the chemo and shrinking, we are going to stay on the Xeloda for another 4 cycles (3 months) and will have another scan in December. As long as the kidney tumour is shrinking that's fine... but the minute it stops shrinking, then off with it's head! We are going to have it zapped by RFA. The reason for letting it shrink rather than go in right now and zap it.... the smaller it is, the less Dr. So has to zap... and as long as it's shrinking, it's not hurting anything
So I beez doing the Happy Shrinking Dance
Thank you, thank you for all your wonderful thoughts and good energy!!
Huggggggs,
Cheryl
On the pronunciation question, Za-Lauda is hard to believe. I found a phonetic rendering Zel-O-duh and an audio recording of Kelsey Grammer saying it, here:
http://www.breastcancer.org/dictionary/x/Xeloda_t.jsp .
Would I be wishing you good luck if I hope you have kidney cancer? Well, whatever exactly good luck is, I hope you have it.
--Greg0 -
Thanks, GregPGLGreg said:Zel-O-duh
On the pronunciation question, Za-Lauda is hard to believe. I found a phonetic rendering Zel-O-duh and an audio recording of Kelsey Grammer saying it, here:
http://www.breastcancer.org/dictionary/x/Xeloda_t.jsp .
Would I be wishing you good luck if I hope you have kidney cancer? Well, whatever exactly good luck is, I hope you have it.
--Greg
Hehehe... you beez speaking Americanese!! You say Zel-O-duh and we say Za-Lauda That does not surprise me... we speak two different versions of the English language (Americanese and Canadianese) ... throw in some accents and I bet there are other versions of how people pronounce it, too!
What I was getting at is, I had never actually pronounced it. Here, we type the word, so never have to say it. When talking to my oncologist, we don't call it by the American brand name... it is referred to as Capecitabine, which is even harder for me to pronounce.
Capecitabine
Brand Name: Xeloda®
Drug Type:
Capecitabine is an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug. Capecitabine is classified as an "antimetabolite." (For more detail, see "How Capecitabine Works" section below).
What Capecitabine Is Used For:
Metastatic colon or rectal cancer
Metastatic breast cancer
Note: If a drug has been approved for one use, physicians may elect to use this same drug for other problems if they believe it may be helpful.
How Capecitabine Is Given:
Taken as a pill by mouth.
Take after food (within 30 minutes of a meal) with water. (Usually taken in a divided dose 12 hours apart).
Tablets come in 2 sizes; 150mg and 500mg.
Do not crush, chew or dissolve tablets.
The amount of Capecitabine that you will receive depends on many factors, including your height and weight, your general health or other health problems, and the type of cancer or condition being treated. Your doctor will determine your dose and schedule.
So, yes, if you are American I suppose you do pronounce it Zel-O-duh, but my oncologist and I are not American, so alas, we don't pronounce that way, or how Kelsey Grammar pronounces it (who also happens to be American). I bet you someone with an English accent would sound different again
Hahaha... funny you should mention that about Good Luck. I didn't really know what would have been a good result... saying that the growth in the kidney was a colon met and can be treated with Xeloda or that it is a Kidney primary cancer, in which case we would get rid of it via RFA. On the one hand, the last thing I like hearing is we have found another met in a totally different area of the body... but I also don't want to hear I have multiple cancers
I do much better in my little world of Denial. It's a peaceful place
Cheryl0
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