It was back to the cancer center here in Topeka today to get the results of the CT scan I had two weeks ago. While I was checking in here, the lab called me for the blood draw. Although the phlebotomist juggled and almost dropped the filled vials, all that went smoothly.
Next, after a wait, it was time for the consultation with Dr. Hashmi. The analyst from KU Med, where the results had been sent but had not yet been posted, called immediately. I could overhear just a few words, "has progressed" being the most common--not the words I wanted to hear, though I didn't have any context. Dr. Hashmi relayed the results: the primary tumor in the left kidney has not grown at all; there is a tumor near the kidney, however, that has grown, though not dramatically; but there is also a tumor on the spine (not the same one as before, but L[umbar]-4, which has increased from 40mm to 48mm. This is on the lower spine, and I have been having lower back pains lately. On the plus side, the tumor seems to be growing away from, not toward, the actual spinal cord. The question is whether to wait and watch or to start another round of radiation treatment. Dr. Green, my radiologist, will be out of town for the next two weeks, so we'll wait for that long to see whether further symptoms develop and then consult with Dr. Green about the possibility of another sequence of radiation. Since I've supported radiation three times before--initially on my hip/femur and on my scapula and more recently on my spine--without bad side effects, I'm inclined personally to go ahead with them. But I realize that radiation isn't without consequences, so if they're unnecessary, there's no reason to begin them. We like and trust Dr. Green, so we will consider his opinion.
The day ended with the Xgeva shot, which is the extremely expensive bone-strengthening injection. That went more quickly than at KU Med.
And then it was home and directly to bed for a long nap.
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