I really didn’t want to write this post, but it’s all part of the journey, so here goes.
Today’s meeting with the oncologist who managed the bone marrow transplant (aka stem cell transplant) procedure to review the results of the August 25th PET scan revealed that there is still some active lymphoma.
This result is not what we believed or hoped for and is quite an emotional disappointment that we’re coming to terms with.
The active area of concern is small and the activity is catgorized by a Standard Uptake Value (SUV) of 3.8 versus an SUV of 19.1 on the March 25th PET scan. Overall my situation is categorized by a Deauville score of 3. Basically 1 is good, 5 is bad and 3 is obviously middle of the road.
Because it’s a middle of the road Deauville score there are two basic options:
- Do nothing and re-scan in 2-3 months to see what’s happening. The good outcome is that my immune system kills it off. The bad outcome is that it continues to grow.
- Proceed with additional treatment. The recommended treatment is radiation. Radiation viability is yet to be confirmed but highly likely. The good outcome is that radiation kills off the remaining cancer. The bad outcome is it doesn’t work or can’t be done and we proceed to more aggressive treatment options with higher risks. 🙁
Current plan is to meet with the radiologists in the next 1-2 weeks. If they concur that radiation is an option the treatments are likely to begin within another 1-2 weeks. Treatments are estimated to be 5-10 days of daily radiation on an out patient basis.
We are continuing to believe for complete healing and so much appreciate your concern, support and prayers.