Today, I had my appointment with Dr. Flam. Fortunately, I had the report of my CT scan with me, as the office claimed not to have received it. He read the report, and did not ask to look at the images, which I offered, as I had the CD with me. He said that the chemotherapy had accomplished its objectives, and it was time to clean up the residual tumor cells with radiation. Dr. John, the radiation oncologist was in the hall, and I brought him up to date on my case. I think he did not recognize hairless me at first, but I have an appointment for tomorrow at 9:30 AM for simulation and planning.
My labs are good. WBC is 5900, platelets are up to 182,000 and hemoglobin back up to 11.2.
My port was flushed and I have an appointment to see Dr. Flam in 1 month.
Additional discussion with Dr. Flam included the question of what might be available should the tumor come back. He said that he had additional chemotherapeutic regimens which might be effective.
I feel good. The side effects of hearing loss, bad speaker tinnitus and taste loss with dry mouth are still with me. I think I have largely avoided "chemo brain". I hope these side effects go away, although the hearing loss is irreversible.
I am delighted to avoid the expected additional chemotherapy, and I hope to be able to travel in another 6 or 7 weeks.
On the downside, I spoke with Dr. Nghiem yesterday. He was not particularly encouraging about the good response to chemotherapy. He suggested that this is the usual result, but there are most likely cancer cells in my body which would not show up on a circulating Merkel cell assay, and the remission induced by chemotherapy is unlikely to be a cure. He did say that should that be the case, there are experimental protocols for which I would be a good candidate. One using immunotherapy would be particularly promising for me.
In the meantime, I know of 3 cases of Merkel call carcinoma cancer-free after chemotherapy. Audi, Scott Hammond and an additional unnamed patient of Dr. Hackett who is a 10 year surviver.
If you know of others, please post the information.
My name is Kenneth Thomas and I had Merkel Cell Cancer in 2000. It was on my left forearm. I had several operations including one in which most of my lymph nodes were remove in my left arm. I had radiation which took care of most of the lymph nodes that were remaining. The cancer was discovered in August and the radiation took place in November - December. In February I had chemo treatments. Other than lymphedema I have very few side effects. My taste buds all came back, my hair came back and I am doing quite well considering everything.
ReplyDeleteYou have had a fine result of treatment.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there was any evidence of recurrence before your chemo.
If so, you are case #4. If not, you were likely cured by radiation and surgery, and your long term survival is probably unrelated to chemo.Thanks for your encouragement.