Summertime, and the living is easy! Since my last post, I've continued with my fortnightly chemo treatments (FOLFIRI with Avastin), having had 9 treatments this year, and 22 total (including the 5 FOLFOX and 8 FOLFIRI treatments last year)! Other than relatively minor nausea, I'm pleased to report that there continue to be very few side effects from the chemo! Prayer works! Please keep praying! And thanks so much for all your wonderful prayers and positive thoughts and good vibes! They are all truly life-giving and continue to buoy my spirits!
My spirits have needed extra buoying lately! When I met with my wonderful colorectal oncologist, Dr. Imad Shureiqi, on Friday morning, August 10, 2012, he showed me that one of the tumor markers they've been tracking ever since my diagnosis of appendiceal adenocarcinoma in December 2010, Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), had trended upwards and, for the first time since my diagnosis, was above the normal range. The plot looked like the classic "hockey stick" graph of exponential growth, not unlike the one Vice President Al Gore showed in his film An Inconvenient Truth that tracked atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide! Somewhat alarming, to say the least!
Dr. Shureiqi ordered another CT scan, which I had last Thursday, August 16, 2012. Caroline and I met with Dr. Shureiqi the next day, Friday, August 17, 2012. The CA 19-9 level had increased even further, the slope seeming to approach the vertical asymptotically! And the results of the CT scan were inconclusive, at best.
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