Please help with Petscan results/ dr gone until July

mcgivarenfaith

Hello all!
We got Matt's latest Petscan results back today, But his Dr. will not be back until July 5th. Was hoping someone with more experience than us can give us some insight.

Impression:
1)Mild activity which is Rimlike, surronding a fluid accumulation in the presacral location. This may correspond with the residual postoperative seroma, hematome, or abcess suspected from 5/2011 Ct scan. clincical correlation and ct follow up is warranted.

2) No Focal areas of hypermatabolic activity are identified in the liver to indicate residual metastatic disease.

3) Stable appreance of two, non=calcified nodules in the left lung without appreciable hyper matabolic activity. A lack of appreciable activity on Pet again makes these less likely to represent matastatic lesions, but continued follow up in warranted.

4) small rounded focus of increased activity in the anterior abdominal wall just below the xyphoid is presumed postsurgical as this is new from the prior exam, but no discrete associated mass is seen.
End))
Matt was diagnosed Stage IV colorectal cancer May 2010 had 6 months chemo Folfox, Dec had Liver surgery removed 9 lesions, 2 ablations on 2 tumors that could not be taken out.
started chemoplus radiation in January then colon surgery April 2011 to remove colon tumor & lymph nodes. He is currently on chemo again for who knows how long. Our Onc tells us he will probably take chemo for life. Well he hasnt worked since last May, but he hopes to be able to go back to work. I have my reservations by what ive read about this disease being Stage iv, it has a high reoccurence rate. Hope someone can respond & tell us if we are doing good...

Thanks,
Jennifer

daBeachBum

Jennifer,

I am totally unqualified to interpret the results, but they sound encouraging to me. I hope you find out this is the case!

If I were you, I would contact the doctor's practice and see if you could schedule a 15 minute call with the Radiologist, another doctor in the group or a Nurse Practitioner to get some better answers and not have to stress for the next few weeks.

I send you both good thoughts!

Ray

pepebcn

daBeachBum said:

Jennifer,

I am totally unqualified to interpret the results, but they sound encouraging to me. I hope you find out this is the case!

If I were you, I would contact the doctor's practice and see if you could schedule a 15 minute call with the Radiologist, another doctor in the group or a Nurse Practitioner to get some better answers and not have to stress for the next few weeks.

I send you both good thoughts!

Ray

I agree with Ray I'm not qualified to give my opinion but
it does not sound bad at all.
Hope you find the help you are searching for !
Hugs!

Sundanceh

"You're Doin' Good"
The report sounds very favorable. Looks like there are a couple of areas that they want to monitor. I did not see the word metastasis and I did see stable.

This looks like a pretty good report. And future follow-up scans will certainly tell you how it's going. You can use those to compare against this scan.

So, relax and breathe a little bit until you see your onc. I'm sure he will tell you some pretty good news.

-Craig

mcgivarenfaith

pepebcn said:

I agree with Ray I'm not qualified to give my opinion but
it does not sound bad at all.
Hope you find the help you are searching for !
Hugs!

Thanks Ray & Pepebcn.
I was
Thanks Ray & Pepebcn.
I was thinking it sounded good to me but we havent been thru this vey long.

mcgivarenfaith

Sundanceh said:

"You're Doin' Good"
The report sounds very favorable. Looks like there are a couple of areas that they want to monitor. I did not see the word metastasis and I did see stable.

This looks like a pretty good report. And future follow-up scans will certainly tell you how it's going. You can use those to compare against this scan.

So, relax and breathe a little bit until you see your onc. I'm sure he will tell you some pretty good news.

-Craig

Thanks Craig! Thats what i
Thanks Craig! Thats what i was thinking as well. I was looking for the word metastic or tumor thru the report. When he had his colon surgery in April his drs there did a scan & told us about a place on his lung we needed to get checked out. We knew he had one spot show up but his onc thought it was nothing. But now he has two, but the petscan says probably not a met. so im kinda confused if it is or if its not. I know biopsy will prob be the only way to know for sure, but we are hoping chemo will get rid of it.
I have read some of your post & know you have been battling for a long time & winning!!! I sure hope that is the case for us too! no one would ever knew matt had cancer, if we didnt tell them. he is so healty & has handled surgery & treamtments so easily.
Our doc is saying chemo for life, what's up with that??

Do you take supplememts or any natural vitamins for your health?
We asked our onc about this issue & he said multivitamin was ok, but i think he needs to be taking more, like something to protect his liver, bc i know chemo is harsh on the body.
Any feedback would be awesome.

Jennifer

pepebcn

mcgivarenfaith said:

Thanks Craig! Thats what i
Thanks Craig! Thats what i was thinking as well. I was looking for the word metastic or tumor thru the report. When he had his colon surgery in April his drs there did a scan & told us about a place on his lung we needed to get checked out. We knew he had one spot show up but his onc thought it was nothing. But now he has two, but the petscan says probably not a met. so im kinda confused if it is or if its not. I know biopsy will prob be the only way to know for sure, but we are hoping chemo will get rid of it.
I have read some of your post & know you have been battling for a long time & winning!!! I sure hope that is the case for us too! no one would ever knew matt had cancer, if we didnt tell them. he is so healty & has handled surgery & treamtments so easily.
Our doc is saying chemo for life, what's up with that??

Do you take supplememts or any natural vitamins for your health?
We asked our onc about this issue & he said multivitamin was ok, but i think he needs to be taking more, like something to protect his liver, bc i know chemo is harsh on the body.
Any feedback would be awesome.

Jennifer

Just pay attention to Craig,s opinion he is the voice of the
experience in this forum! , not a joke he is been on this for many years so probally more experience than many doctors!.
Hugs!

Sundanceh

mcgivarenfaith said:

Thanks Craig! Thats what i
Thanks Craig! Thats what i was thinking as well. I was looking for the word metastic or tumor thru the report. When he had his colon surgery in April his drs there did a scan & told us about a place on his lung we needed to get checked out. We knew he had one spot show up but his onc thought it was nothing. But now he has two, but the petscan says probably not a met. so im kinda confused if it is or if its not. I know biopsy will prob be the only way to know for sure, but we are hoping chemo will get rid of it.
I have read some of your post & know you have been battling for a long time & winning!!! I sure hope that is the case for us too! no one would ever knew matt had cancer, if we didnt tell them. he is so healty & has handled surgery & treamtments so easily.
Our doc is saying chemo for life, what's up with that??

Do you take supplememts or any natural vitamins for your health?
We asked our onc about this issue & he said multivitamin was ok, but i think he needs to be taking more, like something to protect his liver, bc i know chemo is harsh on the body.
Any feedback would be awesome.

Jennifer

Jennifer - Feedback:)
Thx Pepe nice of you to say:)

Hi Jennifer

My onc told me "I'm not a doctor - even though I think I am." LOL! LOL!

Let's look at this situation and see if we can shed some light.

"Spots on Lungs" So, the PET does not show uptake value to these areas and looks like there is no indication of cancer.

Sure, we can needle biopsy them, but they have to be big enough to locate even if it's CT-guided. And with this approach, it can be "hit and miss." The information that you receive might or might be correct. You are always left guessing. I say this because I've had a couple botched in my day, so it's hard for me to always trust in the findings.

What is useful and is a telling indicator, if if the spots GROW bigger for the next scan. Check your measurements on how big they are now. When you do the next scan cycle, find out what the values are at that time. Compare notes. If the spots are bigger, then this raises the flag and might require further investigation.

Sometimes, "spots" in our lungs can be calcifications or granulomas and are benign growths. Alot of people have these but we don't know about them 'cause we're not getting scanned. Only when you get cancer, do you get alot of monitoring.

So this may be something to keep monitored and an eyeball on for future scans. If they do not grow and remain stable, that's a good sign. Any time we don' have to poke and mess around with the lungs is a good idea. It's good to save a surgery when we know something.

Chemo will shrink tumors and if they are small enough, they can sometimes disappear and not be seen by CT scans. But chemo is not the cure for cancer, it is only a "treatment."

Now, "Cancer for Life." I don't have enough info to warrant an opinion on this. All situations vary. It depends on the stage of the cancer - the location of the cancer - and how many organs or how much of one organ is affected.

Surgery and adjuvant chemo with or without radiation is a good course of treatment. Sometimes, people are inoperable and chemo can shrink the tumors down enough to allow a surgery to be done. If that's not the case then sometimes the "chemo for life" plan is given to prevent further spreading and to hold the line on growth.

I did not take any supplements during my last year of battle. I had tried some in previous battles. All of my oncology teams had recommended that anti-oxidants or supplements not be used as it could interfere with chemo treatments and/or aid in the growth of the cancer. That's one of the big questions here on the board. Is it the right or the wrong thing to do? Many, many opinions from not only us, but the medical community as well.

There has been a movement here with supplements and naturopath doctors. These folks are doing supplements with their treatments and I am watching their progress and monitoring their cases for future consideration. Right now, I cannot afford the naturopath doctor and the supplemental program, becase my insurance does not pay for it and I simply, physically do not have the money. I am interested though and watching to see how these folks fare.

"Chemo harsh on the body." Yes it is! I used to take Milk Thistle as a supplment when the cancer was in my liver. This is something good that you can take that will have no ill effects on your husband's treatment program.

As for anything else, I would run it past your oncologist for their input.

Well, bring us back some more info and we'll try and decipher some of it.

All the best - Craig

mcgivarenfaith

Sundanceh said:

Jennifer - Feedback:)
Thx Pepe nice of you to say:)

Hi Jennifer

My onc told me "I'm not a doctor - even though I think I am." LOL! LOL!

Let's look at this situation and see if we can shed some light.

"Spots on Lungs" So, the PET does not show uptake value to these areas and looks like there is no indication of cancer.

Sure, we can needle biopsy them, but they have to be big enough to locate even if it's CT-guided. And with this approach, it can be "hit and miss." The information that you receive might or might be correct. You are always left guessing. I say this because I've had a couple botched in my day, so it's hard for me to always trust in the findings.

What is useful and is a telling indicator, if if the spots GROW bigger for the next scan. Check your measurements on how big they are now. When you do the next scan cycle, find out what the values are at that time. Compare notes. If the spots are bigger, then this raises the flag and might require further investigation.

Sometimes, "spots" in our lungs can be calcifications or granulomas and are benign growths. Alot of people have these but we don't know about them 'cause we're not getting scanned. Only when you get cancer, do you get alot of monitoring.

So this may be something to keep monitored and an eyeball on for future scans. If they do not grow and remain stable, that's a good sign. Any time we don' have to poke and mess around with the lungs is a good idea. It's good to save a surgery when we know something.

Chemo will shrink tumors and if they are small enough, they can sometimes disappear and not be seen by CT scans. But chemo is not the cure for cancer, it is only a "treatment."

Now, "Cancer for Life." I don't have enough info to warrant an opinion on this. All situations vary. It depends on the stage of the cancer - the location of the cancer - and how many organs or how much of one organ is affected.

Surgery and adjuvant chemo with or without radiation is a good course of treatment. Sometimes, people are inoperable and chemo can shrink the tumors down enough to allow a surgery to be done. If that's not the case then sometimes the "chemo for life" plan is given to prevent further spreading and to hold the line on growth.

I did not take any supplements during my last year of battle. I had tried some in previous battles. All of my oncology teams had recommended that anti-oxidants or supplements not be used as it could interfere with chemo treatments and/or aid in the growth of the cancer. That's one of the big questions here on the board. Is it the right or the wrong thing to do? Many, many opinions from not only us, but the medical community as well.

There has been a movement here with supplements and naturopath doctors. These folks are doing supplements with their treatments and I am watching their progress and monitoring their cases for future consideration. Right now, I cannot afford the naturopath doctor and the supplemental program, becase my insurance does not pay for it and I simply, physically do not have the money. I am interested though and watching to see how these folks fare.

"Chemo harsh on the body." Yes it is! I used to take Milk Thistle as a supplment when the cancer was in my liver. This is something good that you can take that will have no ill effects on your husband's treatment program.

As for anything else, I would run it past your oncologist for their input.

Well, bring us back some more info and we'll try and decipher some of it.

All the best - Craig

Wow, thank you for your
Wow, thank you for your feedback:))
I cherish all that i can learn from others living with this disease called cancer.
I too have heard from others that go to MD Anderson,they have been told that supplements can interfere with chemo, doing its job & its not a good idea to take a lot. Something about the cells of the cancer can only take in so much & if we load them up with supplements then the chemo drug will be as effective. So, for now I guess we will jsut stick with a multi vitamin & leave it at that.

As far as the lung nodule, we will continue to monitor & hope the little suckers are anyhting other than cancer.

take care & i look forward to reading your post.

Jennifer