Radiation Therapy and You ... and Tattoos

Well I'll just jump right in with the most important news I've had in the last year and recap the results of the PET scan from 4/2 and the oncologists' (yes 2) meetings from 4/3.

Best Parts:
The mets in my lungs have all shown strong reduction in size.  The largest ones appear to be roughly halved in size, and a few of the tiny side mets (mini mets?) are showing no metabolic activity at all!  This is the first time in the last year for any reduction in the cancer cells to have shown in my scans.  It would certainly appear the generic Gleevec pills are working.

Mediocre Parts:
With the 2 mets in my hip/groin area, 1 has shown some reduction (the deeper one), but frikin' Lymon is holding steady at the same size from the scan back in December.  Maybe if I had given that spot a nickname which would be less-playground-nightmare-enducing (something more normal, along the lines of Mark, or Phillip?), it'd be more inclined to show reduction in size.

Ambiguous Points:
Since we weren't able to get a scan when Lymon was really growing and pushing out of my groin back in January, and the size is now a bit under half of that noticeable protrusion,  we can't claim 100% that all of the cancer is responding to the Gleevec.  Plus the tumor kind of hurts from time to time when I do anything remotely strenuous, or have it poked and prodded by 2 doctors in one day... hmph.

Bottom Line:
Dr Lufkin said he's never seen a response to Gleevec from a melanoma patient similar to what I've experienced.  It's worked for other cancers with the C Kit mutation, but only 2 of his melanoma patients have shown any response, so I'm chalking that up to extreme luck of the draw... hopefully the progress will continue as it has and the mets well all die in time.

Since Lymon hasn't shown reduction in a scan, and it's in a potentially bad spot for blocking arteries if too much pressure builds up (and no one wants a puffy fluid filled right leg), we decided to consult with one of the radiation oncologists up at the hospital.  After meeting with Dr Solhjem we came up with a plan to blast the heck out of that particular tumor with a couple of radiation treatments.  Apparently spot radiating can work for melanoma, but they have to use approx double the strength since it's resistant to frikin' everything.  (as I'm typing this I just got a call and scheduled the appointments for this procedure - May 1st, and 7th).


And I got my first tattoos ... but unfortunately these were just very light blue dots placed strategically around the tumescent lymph node (Lymon) which they used for photographing the area (I was all... "hey if you're taking pics of my junk, these better not wind up on line... I mean I hadn't shaved down there or nothing!"  The staff were pretty fun folks in this department, which really helps when you're doing prep for a radiation treatment, and I guess they also might enjoy someone with a sense of humor about it all).  They also let me know I wouldn't need to shave up the area since the radiation would cause the hair in that area to fall off.  Pretty high price for a Brazilian wax job (okay I don't think it will be that much radiation, but it's not like I'm getting a landing strip or some other fashion waxing lol).


So, sadly enough my first tattoo wasn't my personal protector design using Marvin the Martian crossed with a Japanese demon (they place the scary looking tattoos of demons on their body to ward off illness - I probably should have gone ahead and done it before last year eh?).  But I'll take 4 super light dots in the area of my junk if it'll help say goodbye to Lymon.  He'll be sorely missed (well at least until the blisters and red skin heal... yuk yuk).   And yes... I have planned to get a tattoo of Marvin done up Japanese demon style :).


Also, the drummer and singer from my college funk metal band came to Portland to see me.  It's been a long time since I've seen Kerry (the singer) and Bruce (less time since seeing Bruce, but still some years).  Kerry is pretty hard to reach apparently, but Bruce called Kerry's parents and he was visiting... pretty great timing.  Fun to see people who were really instrumental in my life back in the day and reconnect for a bit.


All in all, I'm not out of the woods, but having a good result sure does help.  There's some serious perspective stuff going on.  And here's a freshly touched photo - taken from my iPhone 3gs back in January and freshened up a tad :)