Good Day

January 2, 2009

The second of January is a good day to scan. A lot of people who usually crowd the highway on my route in and out of Houston skived off work today, leaving room for me and Erin to swan in and back out with relative ease. By 3:00 we had put in our ten-hour day and made it home to start our weekend.

I didn't have much anxiety on the run up to these scans, and I have tried to analyze why. Most importantly, we haven't given Erin anything for pain since before Thanksgiving, so we do not expect terrible news. I conclude that the radiation knocked back the section pushing on her spine and most likely did the same thing to the piece by her bronchial tube since breathing hasn't developed as a problem. My biggest curiosity is about any tumor outside the radiation fields. Since chemo had not worked wonders throughout the fall, I guess I expect some mixed news.

That may explain why I haven't had big anxiety. When things go well, you get on pins and needles anticipating scans because whether your life is going to be thrown into disarray and madness hangs in the balance. When your life is already in disarray and madness, you don't sweat the small stuff. I can tell without a scan that Erin's tumor has not turned into a train wreck. Even if she has pretty good scans, I don't think much will change about her treatment, at least for now. It's not like we have a whole bowl full of protocols to choose from. So, from looking at her, I can eliminate most of the really bad things, and static scans get our ticket punched again for the topless cyclone (topotecan/cyclophosphamide). What if I'm completely wrong and things have actually resolved significantly? I won't complain about an easier regimen.

For those of you who haven't thrown off scanxiety, even after that explanation, I'm not going to be much help. The technicians may have worked the day after New Year's but the doctors didn't, and Erin's doc never works Mondays. That means I have not a clue when we will get results. Maybe someone will read and report them before Tuesday. Maybe not.

As of now, we will return to clinic for more chemo of some sort or another next Thursday (1/8) unless we hear otherwise. Until then, we are still on holiday from cancer.