09/06/11: Some Good News

Firstly I apologize for the delay in update, not much significant has changed in terms of my health state, which is good. Between my last post and today I've been through my second chemo cycle (08/24 - 08/26) and it went very smoothly. It was like night and day compared to my first cycle as the symptoms were way less intense and were not piled on top of the other complications (as it's been a month since I've been mostly absent of shortness of breath, coughing, and tumor related fatigue). I've had some chest pain come back, but it's been diagnosed as acid reflux and I've been given proper medication to combat it.

Most importantly, in the time between these posts, I took another CT Scan apart of my program's schedule to measure my progress.

Today, while doing some preliminary tests to start treatment again, I got the results of that scan told to me: my tumor has shrunk by about 30%! I won't go into the statistics and likelihoods on the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment for my particular cancer, but it is a shockingly and somewhat rare good sign. It's still not small enough for surgery, and ideally, the tumor would have to move from around important arteries and great vessels for the risk factor of operation to lower, but it's definitely closer to that goal. It's also important to note that there is no guarantee on the rate at which it will shrink, if it continues, as I've gotten conflicting pathology identifying some parts of the tumor from low to high grade. But regardless, the news nearly brought tears to my eyes and I'm so very happy to be able to share it to all of my friends and family and everyone else sending their support. You all mean a lot to me and my road to recovery.

Tomorrow, Wednesday (09/07), will be my third chemo cycle, but I look forward to it as the next step in my ongoing battle.

Also, there will be a Fall Fish Festival on September 24th where part of the proceeds will be donated to fund my treatment and recovery, something that may become a burden as I progress. The flyer is attached below (click to enlarge) for more information, but if nothing else, if you can make it, I'd love to see you there!