I am a day late for #WorldCancerDay But since I just got further details about what is on deck for me, this is the up-to date information (and I need to backfill from October at some point 😀)
Just got done with the telehealth with the proton center. They are calling a prescription in for steroids now.
On the new tumors - these two grew real fast from nothing and he wants me in ASAP. (He went back to look at the August 2024 scan and confirmed neither one was on that scan.). I had two of these blooms before. Once in 2017 or 2018, and the other was when the back and lungs went nutzso before the back surgery/drug trial. The quick overview of what is coming - 5 days of treatment and both tumors will be treated at the same time. Now a bit more details.
Next week for the CT visit/measurements, then about another week to plan it. The rib is touching my heart, so the treatment will to make sure it does not go through the tumor into my heart. (Erring on the side of falling short of the back of the tumor.)
The hip bone/,muscle tumor has caused a lot of damage - including more structural damage in the area. This is why I have started feeling weakness on my right side, the difficulty getting up and down and into bed, etc. This tumor is touching my bowels, which is why I started feeling/seeing the swelling on the right lower quadrant of my abdomen a few weeks ago.
There is a 1-2% chance of damage to my bowels being damaged. Additionally, and more importantly, the doctor said that any bowel damage will not show up until years down the road. I laughed, said I my first surgery was 10 years ago next Monday, and I will cross that bridge if I get to it. LOL
The bone on the right side is weakened and the proton therapy may weaken the bone more. But the good news is when bones are treated, the dead tumor eventually starts being absorbed/removed by the body. This process usually starts within a month or so of the treatment. When this happens, the bone also gets "remineralized" and back to being normal. In other words it will be stronger than what it is now.
Due to the extent of the pain in my hip/back, I am starting steroids. At first is was going to be 2mg twice a day. But when I got into more details on the pain, he said just go straight to 4mg twice a day.
He also said I should get on a systemic chemo again ASAP, and I should be good to go for that about 2 weeks after my last proton therapy. Overall he is confident he can treat these and stop the pain. There may be some short term effects where the pain increases and/or the bowels may be short-term problematic (as compared to permanent problematic chances or 1-2%) but both will improve as swelling goes down. I may also get a rash on the chest treatment side due to positioning to avoid the heart.
So guessing the pain will be improved within a month or so from the treatment, though the steroids should take care of the pain for the short-term will happen sooner.
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