A Discouraging Development.....5th PET scan

(Photos in today's blog are from my walks at our local park--Oxbow County Park).

Virginia waterleaf

All those ducklings move as one!

Things had been stable for almost a year... However, the cancer never was in remission and my oncologist told me last year I would be living from scan to scan. Because I have been so stable, he and I agreed to push the PET scan from every three months to every four months, so this month's scan was at four months from the last time. The results came back very quickly, within a day. The cancer could be spreading into my bones. I have a very small possibly cancerous lesion at T10 in my thoracic spine. The cancer appears to be active again in my left breast. It has not increased in size but is showing metabolic activity. There is metabolic activity in the skin in the left breast that increased from last pet scan. A lymph node is also showing activity.

I knew this was not going to be a good scan as my body has been fighting much more significant fatigue and exhaustion. I nap more. Everything hurts more in my joints and muscles. I just haven't been feeling as well as I did before.

I went to the doctor this week for my every three weeks injection and lab work. He looked at the scans and somewhat disagreed with the findings of the radiologist. He felt the radiologist was "overreading" size possibly. He said that reading scans has varied results depending on who is reading it. Some radiologists will read ultra conservatively and some will read with a more liberal stance, if that is the right word. In other words, some will project more dire circumstances than what they actually might be. I'm reading that as some radiologists will err on the side of caution, and some will be more relaxed in their findings. I hope that makes sense.

He advocates a complete MRI of the spine, citing severe arthritis of the spine which makes reading that spot on the bone in the thoracic spine difficult to ascertain for metastatic cancer as it could be inflammation. The MRI will take over and hour and a half he says. Hopefully, I can have my head out of the clanging, banging confines of the MRI machine, since it's just my spine that need looking at. He wants the breast "hot spot" biopsied again to see if the cancer has changed.  Treatment would be adding the latest drug for breast cancer, enhertu, to my line of treatment, and possibly chemo AGAIN. At first, in my mind, I was thinking, NO WAY...I'm not doing that again. But I know my sister has done chemo twice, and if she can get through it, I can do it if I have to.

Pinecone beginnings--red!

He seems more positive about the readings than I was, which readies me for the next plan of action. There's something about him, which I trust, his calm demeanor just steadies my nerves and makes me feel like if there is the worst yet to come, he's going to be a steady presence in guiding my treatment. He is always researching and evaluating latest and best treatments available, so I can move forward and keep going, confident that I am in good hands. I'm glad he's my oncology doctor, and he is Dr. Sacqlain, at Beacon Memorial Hospital, in South Bend.

I continue my walks at the local county park, and walking and rowing at the Y, to try and keep my bone density from eroding further...I can only manage 1-3 miles each time, which is better than nothing. It makes me sad to think about a couple of years ago, I was climbing mountains out west! Now I have to use both my hiking poles to keep my balance steady. I have noticed a drop in my ability to stay balanced on my feet. Not sure what that is due to, hopefully just aging!

I'm still crafting and teaching, so my days are full. Making a diaper cake for a baby shower was fun! I have one more week of school and then we leave for a ten day RV trip (renting one) in Alaska! That helps me keep my mind from going down the rabbit hole of how much longer I will be around! Nobody knows that, not even my doctor, so there's no point in trying to guess. Only God knows....

Thank you for reading and following me on my journey.....Come back and see our Alaska travel adventures in two weeks over on my "Where's Eldo?" blog. Here's a link to the travel blog....Where's Eldo?

                                                       Love, Jeannie