More Chemo...

It has been about a month since I finished up my radiation and chemotherapy treatments, so I have started having follow-up visits with all of my doctors. First, I went to my primary care doctor who gave me a quick check-up. He determined that I was doing really well. He had a blood test performed on me to determine if my kidneys are functioning well (so that I could get the contrast dye injection for an MRI). They are, so he ordered me to have my first post-treatment MRI, which I had done on January 17th.

Next, I met with my oncologist. He asked me how I fared during the radiation and chemo. I told him that I handled it really well and that the only bad side effects (besides losing my hair!) came from the steroids that I was on. He took a look at my MRI scans and said that they looked good, but that he was no expert in reading them. Then, he informed me that part two of my treatment was about to begin. I was very confused as to what "Part Two" he was referring to. He explained that his original treatment plan called for me to do the oral chemo while I was going through the radiation treatments, then after one month of being finished with the radiation, I would start chemo all over again. This was definitely the first I was hearing about having to do more chemo. The doctor argued with me for 15 minutes that he did tell us this plan in the initial consultation, but I can assure you that he did not. That's a pretty big detail that either Kyle or I would have heard. And I never would have celebrated being finished with radiation and chemo if I had known that there was more chemo ahead. I am not angry about having to do more chemo because I understand that if there is even one tumor cell remaining, the tumor could possibly grow back. I want to be aggressive and get rid of this thing once and for all now so that I never have to deal with this again. I am only angry that the doctor argued with me for so long insisting that he told us about the additional chemo, when I knew he had not. I even called Kyle once I left the office and Kyle agreed that he never heard any mention of more chemo.

But anyway, the plan is that I will be on chemo for about four more months. I will be only taking the chemo pills for five days in a row each month. The rest of the month I will not be on the medication. However, the dosage has more than doubled since my first round of chemo, from 140 mg/day to 300 mg/day. The doctor even said that if I handle this higher dose well that he may increase it further in the coming months. I go back to see him in the middle of February and I'll have another MRI to check my progress in March. I started the chemo for this month today, so I have four more days to go this round. I'm just hoping I handle it well again, although I have a feeling that I'm going to lose even more of my hair.

I also had an appointment with my neurosurgeon. He looked at the MRI scans and told me that everything looked good. He said there was a small spot in one of the scans that was most likely just a "post-surgical reflection," whatever that means... Basically, he didn't see anything to indicate that the tumor was still there or growing back at this point, so that is good news. He checked out the incision on my head and said that everything is healing well from the surgery. I will go back to see him after I have my next MRI in two months.

Finally, I will see my radiation doctor next Monday for my 6 week follow-up. Hopefully that appointment will go well too.