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Nghiem in Seattle on November 30. Until then, <strong>with</strong>out much to report, I will not be<br />
posting.<br />
I have made some plans for the future. Assuming the best, that no new lesions show up, I<br />
will cut my work week to three afternoons per week and go to the gym for aerobic<br />
workouts 6 days per week. We will cruise to Hawaii for two weeks in December. We likely<br />
will cruise to Mexico in February and I will visit my mother early in March. We are trying to<br />
organize a family cruise in June, but I am not optimistic about that. The last time I tried<br />
that, I ended up paying for a cruise nobody took.<br />
I thank the San Francisco Giants for distracting me during the worst times. I still can't<br />
believe they went all the way.<br />
Here is another photo, taken today, showing no change.<br />
I see today that there are three new victims of <strong>Merkel</strong> <strong>Cell</strong> Carcinoma added to the<br />
Google support group. I wish you all the best. <strong>My</strong> advise is to be a strong advocate for<br />
your own care. Find a physician who deals <strong>with</strong> this disease all the time. Learn all you<br />
can about the disease, and remember that the research and study is rapidly advancing<br />
and what may seem hopeless today, may be easily treated tomorrow.<br />
Posted by docshu at 12:23PM (-07:00)<br />
Bad News on my PET/CT<br />
Wednesday, November 24, 2010<br />
Today, I went for a follow-up PET/CT. I have been feeling great, almost asymptomatic<br />
except for some dryness in my mouth and reduced taste sensation. I was optimistic that<br />
the scan would be normal and I could have a happy Thanksgiving and head off to my<br />
Hawaii cruise in a good frame of mind.<br />
No such luck. The scans showed a mass in the posterior mediastinum measuring up to<br />
4.5 cm, almost two inches in diameter. It is located just above the diaphragm behind the<br />
heart, next to the esophagus and spine, near the aorta. There was nothing there on my<br />
previous scan in June. The rest of this examination shows no evidence of significant<br />
abnormality elsewhere.<br />
I put in a call for Dr Nghiem this afternoon, but it is Thanksgiving. I have an appointment<br />
to see him on Tuesday.<br />
So what next? Surgery would be very difficult and dangerous, painful <strong>with</strong> a long and<br />
arduous recovery and no real expectation of success. Chemo is an option. Radiation is<br />
another option. The latter seems more likely to be successful. I await word from the<br />
specialists.<br />
I will post more in the next few days.<br />
<strong>My</strong> <strong>Battle</strong> <strong>with</strong> <strong>Merkel</strong> <strong>Cell</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
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