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Today is a gorgeous day. Sprinkled clouds float above in this crisp spring air. The Denton jazz festival is playing live on KNTU. The past three weeks I have felt as well as I have in a year. I've been getting back into the regular flow at work. I even got in a little golf last Friday. As I drive around doing errands before my trip, it is hard to believe that cancer even exists. But cancer likes to lurk in the dark and come back uninvited. Is it hiding or is it gone? It's voice gnaws on me in the back of my mind, causing me to wonder if this beautiful day is a calm before the storm. But what can I do? - I shall enjoy the day and the Lord who gave it to me. I pause, "Have mercy on me, Lord". Now let's turn up that jazz and hit the road.
We're off to Houston today for a round of tests and consultations with my doctors. Two big issues are to be addressed:
(1) The first is the possibility of cancer recurrence. My CEA test results this week in Dallas were down to 6.4 (it was at 10 three weeks ago). That report made my week. But it is still high (should be under 4) and thus they are still concerned it could be recurrence. Tomorrow morning I take a PET scan to expose any cancer that could be causing it to be high. They will also retake my CEA again.
(2) The second issue is that of these strangely dilated veins connected to my liver. My case was presented at a MDACC GI medical conference of all the experts (so my doctor tells me), and they still don't know what is causing this problem. It is not at an alarming state of dilation, but if they continue to grow, it could be life threatening. Interestingly, they now notice that back on my pre-surgery CT scan in December, these veins were slightly dilated. I'm not really sure what this means. To get a better idea of what is going on and what possible remedies they might pursue, I am having an endoscopy tomorrow after the PET scan. This is a procedure in which they put me under general anesthesia (a bit stronger than that of a colonoscopy, but not like surgery) and then stick some sort of diagnostic contraption down my throat. They say that from inside, they will be able to get a look at these veins.
Then on Wednesday morning I will meet with Dr. Vauthey, my liver surgeon, to discuss the findings of these tests and we'll discuss the approach from here. Dr. Hoff may be there for the Wednesday meeting, as well. I really have no idea what comes after Wednesday.
Posted by Greg at April 25, 2004 04:28 PM | Comments (9)