Subject:  ONCOLOGIST VISIT |
Author:
 Stacy
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Date Posted: 20:26:37 05/16/05 Mon
I went to the oncologist today. I told him that I went to another oncologist last week for a second opinion. The other doctor feels very similar to Dr. Hahn and agrees that the treatment therapy that I have received as far back as 1999 was and is a good choice. This made me feel much more comfortable with the care I have received.
Dr. Hahn's game plan:
Continue me on the Xeloda pills for another round however we are increasing the dose another 500 mg's. I will take 5 pills in the morning and 4 pills in the evening. I will be taking a total of 4,500 mg's per day for 14 days. Then I have a 7-day break.
 
As long as the pain in my side does not worsen and I don't become symptomatic in other areas, he will probably continue me on the Xeloda.
There has been evidence that some cholesterol medicines help with those with cancer. I'm already on Zocor for my cholesterol and Dr. Hahn is okay with that.
Dr. Hahn started me on Celebrex today also. It is one of the drugs that you've heard about on the news however the problems come when the dosage is 800mg's. I will start at 200 mg's and if I can tolerate it, I will increase it to 400 mg's.
The reasoning behind the Celebrex is because it is an anti-inflammatory drug that should help the pain in my side. But more importantly, there have been studies showing that Celebrex can aide in the shrinking of tumors because of how the enzymes affect the actual cancer cells. Anything is worth a try, huh.
If my pain gets bad, there is the option of radiation to help shrink the tumor.
All in all it was a good visit. He did say that he feels the cancer is progressing however he feels that it is a slow, manageable rate. In my case, since the cancer is relatively small, CT scans can give false-positive results. Due to how the scans take pictures in "slices" and you're never in exactly the same spot on the table it can show differences in sizes of the masses. It can make it look like the masses have shrunk in one scan and yet look like it has grown in another when it possibly hasn't done either.
Dr. Hahn said my tumor would have to grow another 25% to show true readings. Of course we don't want that happen so we'll just keep doing what we are doing.
There are also "tumor markers" that doctors look for in blood results to help aide in the determination of how aggressive the cancer is. In my case, I'm in the 10% of people that my cancer markers don't show anything. This makes tracking my cancer even harder.
I guess to summarize.... I have cancer, it's small in comparison to what it could be, the cancer is difficult to measure accurately, I'm staying on the same drug but at a higher dose, I'm taking Celebrex now, I still have many chemotherapy options, I have radiation as an option if it grows large, and my life is in no imminent danger at this point.
IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE!!
----- Travis Tritt
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