CT Scan News
On my last SEMB update, I mentioned that things were going well with the Sandostatin shots and there really wasn’t much to report. One of those things have changed, and in a good way!
Sarah went for another round of bloodwork and CT scan on Tuesday of this week. While waiting to visit with the oncologist afterward (while he was likely reviewing the just completed scans), Sarah looked at me and said “Wouldn’t it be great if he came in and said they were gone?!” Not quite that good, but the absolute first words out of his mouth were “They are shrinking.” After a few seconds of nervous laughter and not idle thoughts of felonious harm should he be kidding, we were assured he wasn’t kidding and were of course overjoyed.
He indicated the full radiology report would be coming soon. He couldn’t put words in their mouths but wouldn’t be surprised to see words like “suprising”, “astonishing”, etc., in relation to the differences from a few months ago. The official report arrived today which said, among other things (revised below to my layman’s understanding):
- Of the multiple masses that had appeared in Sarah’s liver on the first CT scan, only one was now visible. It is approximately 9mm and “has decreased in size from the previous exam”.
- Mass near adrenal gland has decreased in size from 3 x 2.2 cm to 2.7 x 1.4 cm.
It’s almost certain that there are still other spots on her liver, but they’ve been reduced to the point that they’re no longer visible on the scan. All along we’ve heard/read reports that the Sandostatin has shown to halt/decrease tumor size, but there’s simply not enough medical evidence to ‘prove’ that it can. We’re extremely happy that Sarah can add to the proof.
As I type, Sarah is headed to Portland, Oregon, to attend a carcinoid patient/physician conference over the weekend. There was some debate about whether she wanted to skip that event in order to stay in town and photograph the MU-Colorado game this weekend. The conference won, but we did postpone the next CT scan for a week when they originally suggested Jan 3 as the date. Sarah correctly pointed out that we’ll likely be traveling to/from a bowl game that day, so wouldn’t want to have to reschedule.
I also feel the need to report that my faith has been shaken. We recently found out a new acquaintance of ours is a KU grad. We really like both her and her husband, but are struggling with how to proceed. This now makes three female friends who attended the land of shoe-wearing birds, so the continuation of a trend. On a side note, screw ku.