Questionable Node Update

JimboC
JimboC Member Posts: 264
in Esophageal Cancer #1
I met with Dr. Levy today and received some good news. He felt it was just too soon to have performed the PET/CT. I had mine 2 1/2 weeks after finishing chemo. He said they prefer to wait 4-6 weeks post chemo. Otherwise you can run into exactly what we are running into now. He recommends that we have a follow-up CT in a couple of months to see what the node is doing. I am having a quick EGD performed tomorrow just to check things out. Then, I'll head back home Thursday morning and should be fine to return to work. No definites but when do we ever get a definite with this disease?

I'm good with this, I feel good about it and time will ultimately tell.

I did meet Casp42 and her Father and Mother. Her Father looks great considering the tough time he's had. They are very nice people. I'm hoping to run into them again before we leave.

Comments

  • Wife of patient 50378
    Wife of patient 50378 Member Posts: 124
    #2
    Jimbo
    This disease is certainly a roller coaster ride. I hope you get back into the groove of life, work, and play without to much worry and stress.
    Take Care
    Sal
  • MissusB
    MissusB Member Posts: 111
    #3
    Wife of patient 50378 said:

    Jimbo
    This disease is certainly a roller coaster ride. I hope you get back into the groove of life, work, and play without to much worry and stress.
    Take Care
    Sal

    Yea!
    This seems like really good news! I've been thinking about you guys today and wanted to check for updates as soon as I got home from work. We are taking joy in this news together, all of us!
  • annalan
    annalan Member Posts: 138
    #4
    Jimbo
    So glad the doctor was
    Jimbo
    So glad the doctor was able to put your mind at rest and that you feel much happier. You will hopefully now be able to start to enjoy life once again. Good luck. Ann (2)
  • Ginny_B
    Ginny_B Member Posts: 532
    #5
    Good times! At lease your
    Good times! At lease your worry can be put to rest right now. Good that you were on top of this.

    Hugs!
  • TerryV
    TerryV Member Posts: 887
    #6
    Doc's words make sense
    The docs expect the chemo & rads to contine working for a good bit after treatment ends. It makes sense that they might should "hot".

    Glad you've got the team you do, Jimbo. It's go to be calming to hear such a reasonable explanation. :)

    Glad you met Casp42 and her parents. It's got to help them not feel so "all alone" now that they have a real face to put with the picture.

    Appreciate the update. GLAD for the update! Prayers for continued positives from the doc!

    Terry
  • BMGky
    BMGky Member Posts: 621
    #7
    Glad you got good news.
    Glad you got good news. Be careful on your way home. Time to get back to work. :) May your good news continue. BMGky
  • paul61
    paul61 Member Posts: 1,391 Member
    #8
    Glad to hear Dr. Levy says wait and see
    Jimbo,

    I am glad you got good news. There are definitely no guarantees with this disease. But we do have the option to take comfort in small victories and to live each day as a gift. It is wonderful to hear positive news.

    I am glad you got to meet Carolyn and her family. Her dad sure had a rough time of it but it sounds like things are getting better.

    Here is hoping for a completely clear scan next time around!!

    Best Regards,

    Paul Adams
    McCormick, South Carolina

    DX 10/22/2009 T2N1M0 Stage IIB
    12/03/2009 Ivor Lewis
    2/8 through 6/14/2010 Adjuvant Chemo Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU
    Two year survivor

    Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!
  • Gatoraid
    Gatoraid Member Posts: 66
    #9
    Nodes
    Initially at diagnosis I had both a CT and PET scan. Once I had chemo and radiation I only had CT scans. I asked about the PET and was told that it has a tendency to give false results and since I had radiation it would be unreliable. It makes sense that chemo would also have that effect and that waiting a period of time would give you more accurate results. False positives can be from inflamation, infection, etc. and you certainly do not want to go through additional chemo unless it is absolutly necessary.

    Try to relax (easier said than done).

    Take care,

    Jim
  • chemosmoker
    chemosmoker Member Posts: 501
    #10
    courageous
    Jimbo,
    You are doing great. Amazing courage on your part considering.....
    Hang in there. I think you are doing the right thing.

    Eric
  • casp42
    casp42 Member Posts: 79
    #11
    Wonderful News!
    Jimbo,

    I'm sure you feel much better tonight and tomorrow even better! Good luck tomorrow with the EGD! My family enjoyed meeting you and your wife. I gave my sister Deanna a description of you and your wife (hope you didn't mind), she said you and your wife were so pleasant to talk too and of course very friendly. Thanks for talking with them, my sister can talk a lot.

    Good luck tomorrow and keep up posted. I'll be writing a post on dad tomorrow.

    Hugs,
    Carolyn
  • JimboC
    JimboC Member Posts: 264
    #12
    casp42 said:

    Wonderful News!
    Jimbo,

    I'm sure you feel much better tonight and tomorrow even better! Good luck tomorrow with the EGD! My family enjoyed meeting you and your wife. I gave my sister Deanna a description of you and your wife (hope you didn't mind), she said you and your wife were so pleasant to talk too and of course very friendly. Thanks for talking with them, my sister can talk a lot.

    Good luck tomorrow and keep up posted. I'll be writing a post on dad tomorrow.

    Hugs,
    Carolyn

    I enjoyed meeting Deanna and
    I enjoyed meeting Deanna and your parents so much. I actually thought Deanna was you at first. My wife and I had dinner with them and we sat downstairs and talked to Deanna until just a few minutes ago. Your family is so fun to talk to but I think we wore your mom and dad out because they left quite a bit ago. Your dad seems to be doing so good considering the rough time he's had. It was so great to run into your family. Usually when I come up, I like to see if anyone from the board is up here but I was a little down this time so I didn't check but running into them was a big pickup for my spirits.
  • JimboC
    JimboC Member Posts: 264
    #13
    Thanks everyone for the
    Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. I'm ready for the EGD tomorrow. My procedure is early so once I get finished, I'm back to Family House to gather my senses about me and leave early Thursday morning for home. I feel so much better now than when I arrived. I should have thought but it would be highly unlikely to have a recurrence this soon after completing treatment. Not impossible but unlikely. I have done a good bit of reading on CT vs PET for post-treatment surveillance and there seems to be much debate with all the possibility for false positives.

    At the end of the day, none of us know how long we get to be free from this beast once it attacks us. If we spend all our time in fear of it, we miss out on the living part. Each day is a gift and I got a little freaked out and forgot that. You can't think too far ahead of this damned disease. It will mess with your mind and I've found that, as bad as the physical can be, the mental can sometimes be worse.

    All my best my friends. I really do take a lot of comfort in our little EC family here and can only hope I can help others half as much as it helps me being here.
  • Tina Blondek
    Tina Blondek Member Posts: 1,500 Member
    #14
    JimboC said:

    Thanks everyone for the
    Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. I'm ready for the EGD tomorrow. My procedure is early so once I get finished, I'm back to Family House to gather my senses about me and leave early Thursday morning for home. I feel so much better now than when I arrived. I should have thought but it would be highly unlikely to have a recurrence this soon after completing treatment. Not impossible but unlikely. I have done a good bit of reading on CT vs PET for post-treatment surveillance and there seems to be much debate with all the possibility for false positives.

    At the end of the day, none of us know how long we get to be free from this beast once it attacks us. If we spend all our time in fear of it, we miss out on the living part. Each day is a gift and I got a little freaked out and forgot that. You can't think too far ahead of this damned disease. It will mess with your mind and I've found that, as bad as the physical can be, the mental can sometimes be worse.

    All my best my friends. I really do take a lot of comfort in our little EC family here and can only hope I can help others half as much as it helps me being here.

    Good News!
    Hey Jimbo
    So happy to hear your good outcome. Always nice to hear good news every once in awhile. Dr. Levy is a wonderful, knowledgeable, man. So I have come to learn. Now...take these two months to enjoy your break. Celebrate. Lift all your doubts, worries, and anxieties up to God. God has you in the palm of his hand. Remember the scripture..."Come to me all of those who trevail and are heavy laden and I will refresh you." Stay positive, as you have throughout this journey. Keep us posted. You know we are always here for you!
    Tina in Va
  • Donna70
    Donna70 Member Posts: 852 Member
    #15
    Tina Blondek said:

    Good News!
    Hey Jimbo
    So happy to hear your good outcome. Always nice to hear good news every once in awhile. Dr. Levy is a wonderful, knowledgeable, man. So I have come to learn. Now...take these two months to enjoy your break. Celebrate. Lift all your doubts, worries, and anxieties up to God. God has you in the palm of his hand. Remember the scripture..."Come to me all of those who trevail and are heavy laden and I will refresh you." Stay positive, as you have throughout this journey. Keep us posted. You know we are always here for you!
    Tina in Va

    glad to hear dr's plan
    Hi Jimbo,
    So glad that doctor is going the conservative route. When I had my first CT PET scan during staging everything lit up but the cancer and the bad node. My drs just do a CT PET scan after surgery, think it was 4 wks + and then only CT scans because of false positives. Glad your mind is at ease but like you said you never fully relax because of EC. Enjoy the reprieve and have some fun. take care,
    Donna70

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