After my fourth good scan last week, I saw my oncologist this morning, who was also happy with the result. He didn't think a PET scan was necessary and said my next CT scan could be in three months, rather than two. This is all good news.
As for ongoing side-effects of the treatment, we discussed two things. First, I mentioned chemofog and he referred me to one of his colleagues, whom he said is a leading researcher into the phenomenon. She is away at the moment, but will contact me soon to discuss it.
Second, he pointed out the visible scarring of my lungs from radiotherapy. The damaged region comprises less than 10% of the total volume, but is still a significant amount. He said I will probably not win the Tour de France now.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Falsetto
One lovely gift I received around Christmas was the discovery that I can again use a falsetto voice. Once more, I can now join Bono in the upper registers (which, incidentally, was how I stumbled upon my renewed capacity).
My voice is still usually croaky in the morning or after much use, but the overall trend continues to be good. My speech pathologist is so pleased with the developments that I am to have another nasal endoscopy next week to determine whether some function might have returned to my paralysed left vocal cord.
My voice is still usually croaky in the morning or after much use, but the overall trend continues to be good. My speech pathologist is so pleased with the developments that I am to have another nasal endoscopy next week to determine whether some function might have returned to my paralysed left vocal cord.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Fourth good scan
My CT scan today went well. There is no evidence of any regrowth or new tumours. The residual tissue mass was slightly smaller again (1.5 by 1 cm). Praise God! I hadn't been particularly anxious until the last couple of days but this is another big relief. The only downside was a little more scarring in my left lung from the radiotherapy.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Next scan on Thursday
Having been away for a few weeks, I have now returned and am able to have my fourth post-treatment CT scan this Thursday in Newtown. The gap has been slightly larger this time (more like three than two months) because of Christmas and holidays. I hadn't been thinking about it at all until we returned on Friday night, but since then it started to grow again in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully, nothing else has been growing.
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