Great news Thursday! As you may know, I had two CT scans prior to the one I had last Friday. The first was in mid January, which was supposed to confirm the preliminary diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. It did not, although it confirmed the ultrasound results of a 5-cm mass on my pancreas. The second was at the beginning of February, when I was being admitted to Mayo Hospital. At that point, the tumor on the pancreas had increased significantly, as had the growths on the liver. In other words, we were told that this was an aggressive tumor and that we needed to start chemotherapy right away. The signals we received in the hospital were not especially promising or uplifting.
Fast forward to today: I had my vitals measured and blood drawn at 9:30, followed by an appointment with my oncologist at 10:30. (Cathy and Laura were right here with me; Cathy has, of course, been with me throughout – she is, as one of my friends noted in a recent email, my superhero. Laura and Dan have been here whenever possible, and always here in spirit when they can’t be here physically. I can’t tell you how important it is for me to have them here. And it is also so important for me to know that you all are here with me in spirit every Thursday.) My oncologist had reviewed the results of the most recent two scans (early February, last Friday) and reported that the tumor on the pancreas had shrunk by a factor of two, from about 5.5-6 cm to 2.8 cm. The tumor is no longer pressing on the stomach, which explains why I am now able to eat more and am gaining weight. He also said the two (smaller) tumors on the liver had shrunk by a factor of about two as well. He was pleased with the results … a very good response to the chemotherapy. Wow!!! The power of Team Bacon is absolutely amazing!! Thank you; thank you; thank you! We are blown away by and so grateful for these results.
Today’s blood work included the measure of the cancer antigen CA19-9. It was also measured a month ago. (Piper measures this antigen at the beginning of each new cycle; this is the beginning of the third cycle.) A month ago, the CA19-9 value had decreased relative to the pre-chemo value (from 192 to 164); today it decreased yet again … in a big way (to 65)! This is another indication that the tumor has shrunk. Hooray!
Now I think it is fair to say that recently we have been over-medicating for pain. I was in so much pain a couple months ago (before getting a patch with the right dosage) because the tumor was pressing on some nerves that radiated throughout my back and, to a lesser extent, my stomach. Without such a large tumor, the pressure on these nerves is much reduced. This explains why I’m handling the reduced-dose patch so well right away, and it makes me wonder if I wouldn’t be fine with a patch reduced even further in dosage; in other words, we may still be over-medicating. This is a topic we’ll address soon, once I’ve shown for an entire week that I am okay with the current dose patch. I am certainly anxious to get to the correct dosage so that we are no longer over-medicating. Particularly because I hope this addresses my low blood pressure. On a positive note: my blood pressure was higher this morning when it was measured at Piper, so we are on the right track.
I was cleared to receive chemotherapy today; news I was hoping for. We are here just waiting to start. All systems are go for beating down this cancer even further!! We are going to continue doing this together, because we fight together! As a team! Go Team Bacon!!
The great folks at Piper have agreed to shift my chemotherapy day so that I am not getting chemo right before Dan and Liz’s wedding. This should help with my energy level without compromising my treatment. What a deal. And if my blood pressure continues to increase to normal levels, I should have more energy for the wedding. That is my goal. After having chemotherapy on Mondays the 16th and 23rd of April, we’ll consider shifting back to having chemotherapy on Thursday, or perhaps we’ll stick with a Monday routine. We’ll see.
Thanks for all your prayers and positive thoughts. They are working! Fight on!