It was wonderful to see Andrew. He looked a little tired but fit and well which was great to see considering his recent surgery.On his first night we had a lovely diner at Paradiso in Oakville with Doug and then set off early the next morning to Buffalo . Tuesday was a real ordeal because the veins in mums arm are not cooperating and it was challenging to access a vein for her bloodwork and injections for the CT and bone scans . Thanks to the outstanding nurses at the breast clinic , she managed to get everything done all in one day and the only thing we had to do was to have an appointment with Dr O'Conner this afternoon .
The news was reassuring. Although the doctor still has to locate the films of mums original bone scan, she was pleased with the results which were as expected. Her CA27-29 was 7.8 and her CEA was 4.2. Her CT scan was largely unchanged except for an interval increase in sclerosis (A thickening or hardening of a body part)associated with extensive mixed lytic (breakdown of bone ) and sclerotic skeletal metastases; the interval change may be a therapeutic response rather than progression of disease.. The metastatic disease is most marked in the spine and pelvic bones bilaterally.
I find that reading the scan results make me feel somewhat depressed because its mum they are talking about not a "70 yr old female CT chest and pelvis w/contr" and it is a bit stark seeing the word "metastatic" but I also recognize that mum is doing very well. The disease is still confined to the bone and she is responding to treatment . This is the best we could possibly hope for and for that, I am extremely grateful.
Before driving Andrew to the airport,we managed to sneak in a quick visit to Colin at Ridley and a fast dinner at the Swiss Chalet . Mum is exhausted now and she went straight to bed once we got back. She is back on the Fentanyl patches for pain and has new medication for nausea .
Good to be back home ..... a very long , but positive, couple of days. Thankfully , we can cancel the appointment next week . Her next appointment is not for another three weeks just before the cruise .
