5 week post treatment update + MRI

dygit
dygit Member Posts: 40 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

Doing well except for some remaining mucositis and light inflammation in throat. Fatigue is dissipating - walking 2 miles a day with some light weight workouts. Still on feeding tube and having a barium swallow X-ray tomorrow to see what kind of stricture is in my throat. Down a little less than 20 lbs.but stabilized weight for last 4 weeks at 180.

Just got results of MRI - some good news and unknown answers:

the 2 lynph nodes that had cancer - bye bye!

The original mass in my supra glottis was 20mmx15mm - now 13mmx5mm. They don't know if the remaining mass there is dead tissue or still cancer. Will be in Honolulu next week with ENT and see what he says. May have to have a biopsy of the supra glottis but don't know. Could also possibly wait until Nov for a pet scan. Will have to see what doc says....

anyone had a similar experience post treatmen with scan of cancer??

Comments

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    edited September 2016 #2
    update

    dygit,

    I am glad to hear you are doing well.  Post treatment can be just as big of an event as rads, chemo & surgery.

    I was hoping to here you say NOmmxNOmm, but they have a tentative  plan to check the mass.    Of course the biopsy is definitive, but a PET is pretty good at showing any activity.  I tend to lean toward “they got it” camp and hope all this is a formality.  After all, those rads are fairly deadly.

    Best of luck,

    Matt

  • dygit
    dygit Member Posts: 40 Member
    #3
    CivilMatt said:

    update

    dygit,

    I am glad to hear you are doing well.  Post treatment can be just as big of an event as rads, chemo & surgery.

    I was hoping to here you say NOmmxNOmm, but they have a tentative  plan to check the mass.    Of course the biopsy is definitive, but a PET is pretty good at showing any activity.  I tend to lean toward “they got it” camp and hope all this is a formality.  After all, those rads are fairly deadly.

    Best of luck,

    Matt

    Thanks Matt - it shrunk the

    Thanks Matt - it shrunk the mass by over 75% so I am hopeful. Only problem is if they do a biopsy is the possibility of cancer going for a walk.....

  • Tmclaren
    Tmclaren Member Posts: 15
    edited September 2016 #4

    My oncologist would not do any sort of scan for at least 3 months as he said the scan could still show dead tissue that has no cancer and it most likely does not go away for at least 3 months . So he prefers not to scan until after three months. . 

  • Barbaraek
    Barbaraek Member Posts: 626
    #5
    3 months post tx PET

    is pretty standard I think. I'm with Matt hoping that what's there is all dead tissue. Sounds like you have turned a corner and are on your way to the "new normal" as we like to call it here.

    Barbara

  • dygit
    dygit Member Posts: 40 Member
    edited September 2016 #6
    Thanks for your comments!

    Thanks for your comments! Will see what my ENT says next week and post then.

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