December 5 visit with Dr. Grossman

Well, today is the 5th of December, so I suppose someone is expecting a post.  Here it is:
Our appointment was for 9:00 am, but they wanted us early so they could draw blood.  That was done, and we had quite a wait before we saw Dr. Grossman.  He was wearing a green shirt and a strange colored bow tie.  Rather unusual looking I thought.
He confirmed that the tumors in both lungs are of the mucoepidermoid type.  He said that this type of cancer is quite rare, and once it has metastasized, there is no way to cure it.  The best one can do is try and shrink the big tumors and limit the speed of growth of the rest of them.  Very few doctors have had much experience with this high grade, rapidly growing type of cancer, so it is very difficult to give a very accurate prognosis: something on the order of 4-6 months was his best guess.  He also said that the number of identifiable tumors was more like 60, rather than the ten previously reported.
He showed us the pictures both of the x-rays and the CT scans.  I asked for a copy, which I now have, along with the x-rays taken at Lakeview back in May when I was taken to the hospital for chest pain.  That turned out to be pleurisy, nothing more, and the x-rays showed no evidence of any kind of problem in my lungs.  But it did provide additional information which puts an upper limit on the length of time visible tumors have existed in my lungs.
The next step is a PET scan.  Positron Emission Tomography is a technology that allows the medical folks to more accurately determine where cancerous tumors exist in the body.  They use a cyclotron to create radioactive particles in glucose, which is then given to the patient and is absorbed much more readily by cancerous cells than by healthy ones.   The radioactive particles emit positrons, which are captured by the scanning equipment, showing the computer where the tumors are located.  Of course, this technique cannot see every single cancerous cell, but it does give doctors a good idea of where the larger tumors are so they know what they are dealing with, and how extensively the cancer has spread.
This experience is scheduled for next Monday, and then we will see Dr. Grossman again on Wednesday, Dec 12.  He wants to see the PET scan results before prescribing treatment, but it is obvious that it will be chemotherapy.  It is just a matter of how much of what is given and how often.  in fact, I think he has determined what will be given, and has a pretty good idea of how often . . . but that is supposed to be determined by the Tumor board, which meets this Friday.  Both Dr. Bentz and Dr. Grossman will be talking about my case, along with Dr. Hitchcock, who presided over my radiation treatments about a year ago.

Next post:  probably next Wednesday;  the PET scan results will not be available until then.