June Scan Results in Fluffy Futures

Quick Update - the latest CT scan brought no changes to the party. Generally this is a good result, just not as amazingly good as the last scan.

I saw Dr Soutrain last Friday, and he confirmed the radiation had resulted in roughly a 60% reduction in Lymon. He felt this was a good result, and we would likely not need to revisit that area unless we see new growth.

My visit with Dr Curti went well this morning, and he and I discussed the more detailed analysis from the CT scan. With no appreciable growth or reduction showing he felt my current plan was where we should stay. I gather there were a few of the lung mets which showed as + or - 1mm in size which is due to the greater resolution of a dedicated CT scan as opposed to the version delivered with a PET (fluffy animals do tend to shed so in the warmer months, and Dr Curti appears to be quite fastidious with his grooming habits).

However the next scan will be of the fluffy variety, as we want to see if the metabolic activity has changed with the continuance of the faux Gleevec. With so much cell growth, it's inevitable to have some residual left overs which the body won't reabsorb. I'm hoping there will be reduction in the amount of life (metabolic activity) showing in the cancer mets.

On a fun buying-my-own-cancer-meds note... The lab in Goa is no longer where my pills are made, and while I don't have the new box handy to read to share where my newer pills were made, I can attest to the packaging being much fancier. Who knew there would be more than one pharmacy in India producing a generic for this drug? It'll be interesting to see if the pills keep coming from there in the future, (assuming I'll keep on the Gleevec plan).

Dr Curti and I chatted about what we might look to do if the pills stop working and there are a few new immune response treatments being developed as well as added combination therapies with radiation and immune boosters. There are also a few chemo options to try. With mucosal melanoma acting on different areas of the body than skin melanoma, there are some differences in what tends to be effective (it's also far more likely to be C Kit positive apparently).

Hopefully if I need to change, I'll qualify for one of the new options, but for now my plans are to start actively losing weight, practicing keys and guitars, trying to write, and going back and forth from Talent to Albany/Corvallis to see Ki (who is starting residency today!).