Finding Chemo (Again)!

I had my 15th chemotherapy treatment (FOLFIRI) today.  We hit a bit of a speed bump on the road to complete cancer freedom with my most recent CT scan, which I had on Wednesday, April 11, 2012.  We were hoping and praying, of course, for a result of No Evidence of Disease (NED our pal!), but instead were told, on April 12, 2012 (ironically one year to the day after my marathon 12-hour debulking/HIPEC surgery!), by my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Paul Mansfield, that there was, in fact, Evidence of Disease.  There were at least a couple of spots in my abdominal cavity that appeared to be growing, probably on my peritoneum, the large membrane that envelops the gut.


In retrospect, looking back at my previous CT scan from Wednesday, January 11, 2012, one of the spots that was clearly seen on my most recent CT scan was present there, too, only it was too small to be noticed if you didn't know exactly where to look!  Apparently, a result of NED only lasts until your next CT scan and can be somewhat contingent on subsequent CT scans!  The odds were definitely in my favor (as Katniss and Gale would say in the Hunger Games), given that 1/3 of HIPEC patients go into more or less complete remission, as opposed to the 1/1000 patients who do who only receive IV chemo!  According to the laws of probability and statistics, even then 2/3 HIPEC patients don't go into more or less complete remission!  But, we haven't given up hope, nonetheless!  I still feel in my heart of hearts that I'm truly an "outlier" and can beat this appendix cancer, yet!  Especially with everyone praying for me and wishing me the best and directing positive thoughts and vibes in our direction!  If God is for us (and I know beyond knowing that He is, in all senses of that affirmation!), who can be against us?


We don't know if these tumor cells somehow evaded the HIPEC sloshing during my marathon 12-hour surgery last year or if they were resistant to the Oxalyplatin used for my HIPEC surgery and the subsequent 8 FOLFIRI chemo treatments I received after I'd recovered sufficiently from my surgery or both (or neither)!  Only time will tell!  Amen!