Jeanine's results

Jeanine went to the doctor today to get her results from her CAT scan. The news was a mixed bag of good and bad.

The growth of the tumors in her kidney has slowed. From March to May, the cancer made a wild dash through her liver, with some tumors growing by as much as 50%. From May to September, it has grown, but only by 15%. There is no evidence of cancer in any of her other organs.

That having been said, the doctor has suggested that he change the class of drugs being used to slow/stop the progression of her disease. He said that he would like her to try a drug that is used for many cancers - Avastin. It is supposed to restrict the blood flow to the cancer cells. Jeanine decided to follow his advice. It will be administered intravenously biweekly. She will begin the treatment on Friday.

Jeanine has pain in her liver and is able to control it with pain meds. The doctor said that if they can isolate where the pain is originating, she might want to consider RFA (radiofrequency ablation) to kill the cancer cells. It cannot be done to every tumor, but if they can figure out where the major pain is originating, then she can have some relief.

Jeanine is handling this latest development pretty well. She headed back to work after the doctor's appointment.