Rickie's Scan Results Half Empty or Half Full

After being on the road all day we finally returned home from Houston tonight. Rickie had scans on Monday morning and an appointment with the doctor the same afternoon, so the results were only preliminary, however the doctor said that the cancer appears to be "stable." At first I think we were a little disappointed, as the scan in May had shown marked improvement in shrinking of all the cancer and we were hoping for the same, but we decided that we could look as it as "is the glass half empty or half full," and we decided to look at it as half full. The tumor is now in the lower third of the esophagus and in the upper part of the stomach cardia. The bone mets seem to have resolved. Dr. Ajani questioned Rickie about how he was feeling and how he was dealing with the side effects. Rickie explained how after the chemo he usually feels "yucky" for about 5 days, and then started feeling better. He asked the doctor what would happen if the dosage was cut down some, and the doctor said that the cancer would probably start spreading again. Rickie asked him if there was a chance of doing radiation, but he said no, only as a form of pain management. He again reiterated that it is incurable and inoperable, only manageable. Dr. Ajani recommended that Rickie stay on the same chemo regime, Erbitux (cetuximab) and Irinotecan (Camptosar) every three weeks, for 3 more months, with the agreement that if quality of life goes down we will return to see about trying other drugs. Rickie agreed to this.
We also saw the nutritionist while we were there and discussed with her the fact that even though Rickie is taking tube feedings along with eating regular food, he is not gaining weight. In our discussion we mentioned that he gets a Sandostatin injection once a month for diarrhea and she said that that may be working as a fat blocker in his body, causing him to not absorb fats. She suggested that he take pancreatic enzymes to help offset the effect. So he will begin those tomorrow and we will see how that goes. However, when we got home this evening he weighed himself and since we have been gone he has gained about 5 pounds! Of course this week he has also been eating a little better. We think that maybe his esophagus has healed since the dilation and things are going down easier. I also think that he was afraid to have a recurrence, and so was not eating as much and sticking to softer foods. Being out of town, it's sometimes a little bit harder to find those kinds of foods, so he just tried whatever was available and found that he could eat most of it without rushing to the nearest restroom. Overall he has felt much better this week and he actually did the driving up to Houston and back. So I definitely think the "glass" is half full! Things could be so much worse, but by the grace of God they are not at this time. I do want to thank all of you who have lifted us up in prayer. I truly believe it makes a difference!
Cheryl