Post #67: Wonderful News!!

Dearest All,

Well, today I get to report wonderful news. Anita finally received copies of her latest cat scan (Aug.10) which was a comparative or "contrast" 3-part scan to her previous cat scan taken on March 9. As I reported in Post #66, her oncologist told her that she had improved by 50%. Well, Anita is thrilled to report that he was referring only to the abdominal part of the 3-part scan. The rest is astounding:

Pelvis:
- no evidence of mass or adenopathy
- no gross bladder abnormality
- no gross bowel pathology except diverticulosis of the lower descending colon and to a lesser extent the sigmoid colon (that was already there)
- no gross small bowel abnormality

Chest:
- there are focal areas of scarring in the right lung (these are from Anita's previous surgery about 10 years ago)
- no evidence of pulmonary mass or infiltrate (Yeah team!!!)
- no gross endobronchial lesions
- no evidence of mediastinal or lymphs
- no periocardial fluid (on her first cat scan she had fluid in her lungs)
- no gross abnormality
- a negative study

Abdomen:
- normal appearing liver and spleen except some calcified granulomas (Anita had a gall bladder operation in the past)
- no evidence of biliary dilitation
- normal appearing hepatic and portal veins
- normal appearing kidneys
- normal appearing adrenal glands with no evidence of hydronephrosis
- stable renal cyst on left side
- normal appearing pancreas (this is fantastic!!!)
- marked decrease in adenopathy (the mass) between the superior mesenteric artery and the aorta (this was her biggest tumor!!!) Formerly was 4.5 x 3.0 centimeters. It is now 3.3 x 1.9 centimeters in size.
- the nodal mass posterior to the renal vein used to be 3.0 x 2.6 centimeters but is now 1.9 x 1.24 centimeters in size.
- the celiac\portahepatis adenopathy has decreased as well


I don't know about you all, but both Anita and I think that this is more than a 50% improvement! And she is halfway through her treatment program! And, as they say, that's not all folks.

She had her Rituxan treatment yesterday which took exactly three hours. She hasn't had as much dizziness post-treatment and no nausea however she was a bit worn out. Today she is feeling very good, is eating well and taking her vitamins. She takes naps every day. Tonight she and John are going out to visit a friend for dinner. So it has been a great day for her! And for us!

Mother informed me that she has not been able to get into her computer, so she may not have seen recent messages or emails. So if it is important and you need to get a response from her, please call her.

Anyhow, we all can feel so blessed today. This is simply marvelous news!

Melissa