Oncologist Update

The meeting today went quite well, the oncologist was very upbeat.

While the MRI results were technically inconclusive (as reported by the Medical Registrar last week) it was the opinion of the radiologist that the other 2 "things" in my liver were not cancer, and were not likely to be of concern.  Dean, the oncologist, commented that the radiologist who reviewed the results was very experienced and that he would trust their judgement.

So the plan now is 2 more cycles of chemo (a cycle is 2 treatments) followed by a CT scan and provided there is shrinkage, particularly in the lung met, then surgery would follow.

The surgery would most likely be a liver resection, plus possibly a Lung Lobectomy.  Apparently there is a fair possibility that chemo alone could shrink the lung tumor to a state that no further action would be needed for a reasonable time.  There is also the possibility of radiofrequency ablation but that would have to be done in Australia.

In terms of prognosis, I have passed the worst case basis, assuming no spread beyond the two original mets, so average life expectancy now is 20 months.   If there is shrinkage then average expectancy increases beyond 30 months.  Dean felt that with my current state of health, my ability to tolerate the chemo so far, and that I have not had prior chemo indicate that I would have a better than average chance of extending beyond the normal time.

I guess the only down side to the meeting was that I am feeling very tired and somewhat ill at the moment, I have not recovered to the same extent as I did after my first chemo treatment.  The oncologist said that was to be expected and it was likely I would get progressively worse.