CT Scan, CEA Update

Phil had a CT scan on Monday.

I think I too often dwell on the disappointment that the lesions aren't shrinking instead of focusing on the blessing that they aren't spreading.

The oncologist walked in and announced that the abdomen is clear of disease. I always take this for granted, but truly, what a blessing! Nothing has spread to the liver or in his GI tract (this is a GI cancer, after all!) or anywhere else.

Next she informed us that the CT scan showed one lesion had grown approximately 2mm squared and the others showed no change. Again, this is good. Sure, we look forward to hearing that things are shrinking but I need to be grateful that things are not spreading and that they are really quite small. His largest lesion is just over 1cm. His CEA is up to 10.3 (we want it under 5 but it has been as high as 187).

The oncologist was extremely helpful this time and answered lots of our questions. She agreed with our course of action to remain off the chemo through August. Phil will get monthly CEA labs during that time and if there is any kind of spike, we'll get him on the chemo as fast as possible. He has another CT scan scheduled for mid-August. If things are still stable, he will likely have a small surgery to fix an incisional hernia he has. He has to be off Avastin for 8 weeks before and after any surgery so he will need to be stable in the cancer area to have this other thing fixed.

In the meantime, we are trying to really focus on nutrition. We feel that this will serve two purposes. 1 - it will strengthen Phil for future treatments and 2 - we hope it will assist his body to naturally fight the invading cells. We registered for a class next Tuesday at the hospital. It is "nutrition for cancer patients." We met with a Nutritionist, MD once and were really disappointed. He was just thrilled to learn that we don't eat out much and that I usually cook using ingredients instead of boxes and cans. His focus seemed to be on trying to make sure Phil got enough calories to prevent weight loss, not really on good nutrition to aid in the treatment. We are hopeful that this is better.

Phil is taking turmeric and fish oil along with astragalus (he's been taking this all along and it has really boosted his immune system through all the chemo). Add these to his multi-vitamin and fiber and he's swallowing a good many capsules each morning. There are so many different testimonials about all kinds of "natural" and "miracle" cures that Phil is trying to really do his research. Certainly we don't rule these things out but we could go crazy chasing every "cure" out there. We pray and try to listen. Phil is good that way.

We are pretty grateful that things have not progressed much. The average life expectancy for someone with stage IV colorectal cancer is 3-5 years and he's been dealing with it for 8 years. He is otherwise healthy, happy, and living life. We'll just keep hanging on to the blessings and still hope for more.