Tag: MUGA

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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

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The Oncologist Visit

So, post blood work, it’s on to the oncologist. We’re greeted by friendly but saddened nurses we’ve worked with before. First Kelly for the initial vital stats and general status questions, then Margret who takes us through the treatment plan and answers a lot of our questions and then Dr. Moltzen who further explains the treatment plan and why it is what it is and clarifies and responds to some additional questions.

So, here is the diagnosis and plan:

  • The growth is a reoccurrence of the 2018 lymphoma
  • It is highly treatable and they are planning for a cure
  • There will be chemotherapy, a different regime than 2018
    • The drugs are not supposed to cause heart damage like in 2018. See MUGA scan on Six Month Followup
    • Hair loss is “sometimes”, last time it was “for sure” 🙂
  • Autologous (I’m the donor) bone marrow transplant
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Six Month follow-up

I’m at St Boniface hospital for the standard blood work and a visit with the oncologist. I’m feeling good and the visit should be uneventful.

I have a few questions, most I suspect will not have a clear answer. Things like “Are you sure the Cancer is still gone?”. It seems that the blood work tells them next to nothing about the presence or absence of cancer in my body. I’ll ask again about scans or x-rays but so far it’s been a “no go”.

After meeting with the doctor she confirms that there will be no scans due to the radiation exposure unless there are symptoms warranting a scan. So, no scan just for a casual look see.

One thing I’d totally forgotten about was the follow-up MUGA scan post-chemo that took place back in March 4, 2019. It seems that I didn’t get off total free from some negative effects of one of the chemo drugs. My left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) decreased from 67% to 50% which was described as “significant” but “at the lower end of the normal range”. A caveat was noted that “the patient” positioning was different between the two scans. I didn’t notice this until later so I didn’t get to discuss this with the doctor. Now believing Ps 103:1-5 more that ever, especially v4 where is says “Who redeems my life from destruction” – the “destruction” to my heart that the cancer/chemo caused will be redeemed and restored to it’s proper function, capability & capacity.