IS IN THE BOOKS!Round 3 Chemo (July 1 and 8) brought Nicole a few annoying new side-effects, but she's trudging right through. And she looks just great! It's "off week" now, and it's an opportune time for the oncologist to see how his treatment is doing. (Not to mention Nicole gets a little reprieve from the rigors of treatment.)
So, Dr. Litton ordered a PET (Positron Emission Tomagraphy) scan. This type of medical imaging uses a small amount of a radioactive chemical that is absorbed by specific kinds of body tissue such as cancers or other particular structures. The chemical is injected and time is allowed for the chemical to be absorbed. Then the patient is placed next to a special set of detectors that sense the location of the chemical. The image that results can give information about the presence and location of cancer cells or other features.
The doctor also ordered a chest CT scan along with the PET scan to check out what's happened to the tumor over the last three rounds of gemzar and cisplatin chemo. Results are pending. The scan is very sophisticated - producing 3-dimensional, color images of the functional processes within the body.
The doctor also ordered a chest CT scan along with the PET scan to check out what's happened to the tumor over the last three rounds of gemzar and cisplatin chemo. Results are pending. The scan is very sophisticated - producing 3-dimensional, color images of the functional processes within the body.
Dr. Litton indicates that even if the scan shows no "hot spots" he would recommend two or three more rounds of chemo, followed by radiation. (We all wanna' get this one!) Nicole wants to get finished and begin teaching piano again in September. Yeah! Also, a follow-up visit to the opthamologist this week showed that Nicole's eyes are improving. And that's great news!
Thanks for your loving help and for checking up on Nicole:-)
