Wednesday, June 22, 2011

My Scan Will Be Done Tomorrow

My Scan Will Be Done Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
I'll be scanned.
Just thinking about tomorrow
It may be a day of sorrow, 
Or a day that's grand.
It will be  a day that's hot and sunny
This is the test for all the money.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, they'll scan me tomorrow
Tomorrow's the day I'll know.


With apologies to Annie


I had my appointment with Dr Flam today.
Labs are not great, but not terrible. 
My platelets are 84,000 up from 80,000.
White count is normal at 6,900, down from 26,800 after Neulasta.
Hemoglobin is down to 10.5 from 11.5 last week.
Symptoms this week are mainly related to my hearing. The audiogram showed a mild high frequency hearing loss. This is manifest especially watching TV, where I can hear dialogue but have difficulty understanding it. This week, a new manifestation showed up. It feels like there is a low frequency tinny sound, accompanying speech like there is a defective speaker on a radio.
Dr Flam wants me to see an ENT specialist. I have called my friend Richard Weinberg who will try to see me tomorrow after my CT.


In any event, Dr Flam says I should not take any more Cisplatin and if more chemotherapy is needed, he will switch to Carboplatin, which causes less ototoxicity, but not none.


It seems like three possible scenarios depending on the CT scan.
1. Best case, the posterior mediastinal mass is gone and there is no new tumor.
The plan for this case is likely radiation treatment to the posterior mediastinum.
2. Most likely. The mass is smaller, or unchanged but there is no new tumor. 
Continue chemo with Carboplatin.
3. The mass is bigger, or there is new disease.
Stop chemo. Look for an experimental protocol.


In other news, we had a very nice visit from my brother and sister-in-law from Florida, Jon and Sandy.
They took us out for dinner Monday night. The food was good, so I'm told. As good as could be expected, with loss of taste. On Tuesday, we had brunch with them and with Gary, Dana and the three granddaughters. Then Eva stayed over last night. She leaves for 2 weeks of camp on Sunday.


I hope to post again tomorrow with my results.

1 comment:

  1. David Shuster,

    I hope that your scan showed some progress in your battle with MCC. On Tuesday June 28, I begin my 5th chemo cycle. (Each cycle comprises 3 consecutive days of chemo followed by 2 weeks of just blood tests.) Dr. says I must undergo total of 6 cycles before switching over to radiation.

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