Tomorrow... 3 month results!

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

lisa42 said:

hooray!
Cheryl,

This is wonderful news!!!!! SO glad for you!!!

Lisa

Thanks!! ::dance dance dance::
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!

Cheryl

PGLGreg 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

Thanks, 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

Cheryl