Tag: scan

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Good News

Shirley and I met with the oncologist this morning and it was all good news.

Over the last few weeks there has been some testing to see if there is any cancer activity in my body and how I responded to the radiation treatment in June. There was blood work, a CT scan of my neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis plus a PET scan from my neck to mid-thigh.

Then there was the waiting. I must admit I was quite a bit more anxious about today’s meeting after all the other non-cancer medical issues I’ve experienced over the last year on top of the lymphoma reoccurrence . With the testing and the waiting it felt like my life was slowly being put on pause awaiting this result.

The CT results were clear, not detecting any lymphoma. Similarly, the PET scan was clear in the left armpit where previously there had been suspected lymphoma activity. As the report put it the issue had been “resolved”.

After the meeting it felt like the play button had been pressed and I seem to have the desire and motivation to get on with living a fuller life.

The blood work was a bit of up and down. Some indicators had improved and some dipped a bit. The doctor wasn’t concerned and no immediate treatment is planned. In fact while I’ll still have the monthly IVIG treatments there is nothing else planned except monthly bloodwork and a checkup in three months.

Of course things wouldn’t be complete without some numbers and graphs.

White blood cell count took a bit of a dip 😕
Platelets and hemoglobin are slowly edging up to the normal zone
LDH under control

We are so very thankful for this good news and thankful for all of you who have prayed for and supported us in this journey. God bless you all.

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PET Scan #9 Results – Official

I’ve gotten a little behind in posting and while I’m writing this on January 16th, I’m backdating the post to January 10th when we actually received the full results of PET scan #9.

As I’d mentioned on the January 5th “Into the Tube” post we had a heads up over the phone that the news was going to be good, and it was! The summary is that there was nothing new found and the “previous areas of concern” … “appears stable” and in fact a bit better than the previous scan.

In addition to this good news there was also good news on the blood work front as well! Several of the key indicators are improving. White Blood cell Count, Red Blood cell Count, Hemoglobin, and platelets are all up.

Hemoglobin and Platelets – Trending up
WBC – White Blood cell Count
Neutrophils

LDH (Lactate Dehydrogenase) is lower, which is a good thing.

LDH – In between the green lines is good.

All in all, an excellent report, for which we are both very grateful for. Monitoring eases up a bit over the next while with a follow up oncologist visit on March 7th, 2022.

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Into the Tube

Yesterday, Wednesday January 5, 2022 I had PET scan #9.

The PET scanner a HSC

The now familiar process went smoothly with the standard interview, IV fluids and the “sugar” injection, aka radioactive glucose! When the nurse does this she is gowned, masked, gloved and behind a shield. They did all of this before COVID, now it’s almost “normal” for most procedures.

After 1 hour of letting that stuff circulate, it’s into the tube for a 20 minute snooze as the machine scans my body.

After Shirley called yesterday and asked if there was any way of getting the results sooner than our appointment next Monday, I received a reassuring call this afternoon from Kelly our oncology nurse with an update on the PET scan results. “Nothing to worry about”.

We will still meet with the oncologist on Jan 10th for a full review of the PET scan and bloodwork results.

This process certainly has been a test of my faith. I believe I’m healed. I look at my tattoo and it reminds me that “the anchor holds” in the storm.

I can certainly relate to Mark 9:24 and the need to take every thought captive and win the war in my mind. Thank you Jesus.

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Good News

The results today from the October 26th PET scan are good!

The current scanner at HSC

In fact the results of this latest PET scan are better that the one 3 months ago. While there is still a small area of “activity” it is “less intense” and is “still favoured to be due to inflammatory change”. Which basically means they think the body is just doing normal stuff and that it’s not cancer.

Going forward there will still be active follow up in the form of monthly blood tests and PET scans every 3 months for the next year to year and a half.

We’re feeling very relieved, happy, excited, thankful and more about my ever improving health status.

Thanks to all for your prayers and support. ❤️

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#7

PET scan #7 was today and while the process was pretty routine for me now, there was a little wrinkle. 🙂

As an aside, who remembers The Prisoner (1967/68) with Patrick McGoohan? “I am not a number… I am a free man“. He was #6 and every time I use the “#” I remember that great show.

Warning!

Just a warning, if you’re not a fan of vaccinations, you should probably just move along and know that the PET scan was completed without incident.

Prior to getting shoved into the tube for the scan there is a bit of paperwork and a blood glucose check to ensure that it’s not too high, which would mess up the scan. I’m told mine is fine at 4.9

Then there is the standard review of quite a few questions that I’d heard before and/or answered in writing on the intake form and then there is this exchange between myself and the tech. I’ll call her “The Tech” as she is running the show from intake, to starting the IV, to injecting the radioactive stuff, to running the scanner. I’m guessing she is a fully qualified RN but not sure. For this, “The Tech”.

Tech: Have you has your COVID shot?
Me: Yes, #3 on October 8th
Tech: Which arm?
Me: Left
Tech: Flu shot?
Me: Yes
Tech: Which arm?
Me: I’m not sure, I had four vaccinations that day.
Tech: (pause) OK, what other vaccinations?
Me: Hepatitis B, Influenza, Pneumococcal conjugate, Herpes Zoster (Shingrex)
Tech: OK, let me check with the doctor
(big pause)
Tech: We’re OK and good to go. It’s likely that the vaccinations will cause the scan to “light up” in the area of the lymph nodes near the injection site and that’s a normal and expected reaction to vaccinations as the body does its job building up your immunity. Since those areas are not where we’re tracking the cancer, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Generally, “lighting up” is bad when they are checking you for cancer. This whole concern about vaccinations was quite unexpected but it appears they allow for that so the PET scan continued as planned.

Results with the oncologist on November 1, 2021

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Chest Follow-up and PET Scan

I followed up with my doctor regarding my chest “ache” and updated him on my current symptoms. His opinion at the time was that it could be a neuritis issue, aka nerve damage. The source of the nerve damage could be many but his best diagnosis is that nerves in the spine at the T5/T6 level are being impinged upon by something, like a herniated disk. An Xray would be able to determine if a disc is compressed, a CT scan would be required for a more detailed analysis to determine if there is spinal nerve damage. At this point ( Jan 4th) my doctor doesn’t have access to the Dec. 24th CT report.

PET Scanner at HSC

The PET scan today proceeded quite normally with no issues. The PET scan equipment is over 10 years old and has exceeded it’s life expectancy and is being replaced. The new unit is supposed to be up and running in the next 1-2 weeks. I hope I never see it. On the way out I snapped a photo of the unit I’ve been in a few times.

Later in the day I get a call back from my doctor. He has now reviewed the CT scan report and noted that they detected some damage “within the medial aspect of the right upper lobe”, aka a part of my lung and to a lesser extent similar damage to the left lobe that has been caused by the radiation treatments. This would seem to explain the chest “ache” on the right and left side. There is a possibility that it will heal further, which it will. I’m surprised that this issue has surfaced 90 days post-radiation but I’m told it can happen that way.

The CT report also indicated that the tumour as shrunk by approximately 50% from the May 6, 2020 CT scan, a very good thing.

Next stop is January 11th for the results of the PET scan.

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Dates – Updated 2020/03/23

Winter Sunrise

Well the medical system is kicking into high gear and I’ve got a bunch of dates for upcoming events.

  • March 16: MUGA Scan at St. Boniface
  • March 18: Blood work at St. Boniface
  • March 20: Port Insertion at HSC
  • March 25: PET Scan at HSC
  • March 30 & 31: Chemotherapy starts March 30, 2020
  • April 6: First Meeting with the Bone Marrow Transplant folks at HSC CancerCare


A CT scan after Cycle 2 of chemotherapy which would put this test some time after April 21.

Shortly after this CT scan is done, the bone marrow transplant will take place