We are over half way. Through the chemo, at least.
After the chemo we have a month of radiation. But before the chemo we had a month of diagnostic tests, so sure – we’re half way there.
There are several hopeful signs.
Most importantly, they did a PET scan and it came back very good. It didn’t find any overt signs of cancer, and just one potentially suspicious looking node around the area where all the hot spots were previously, and it’s much smaller than anything they found before.
On a scale of 1-5, we were given a 2. The dr says that 1 and 2 are both highly favorable.
Joseph has been having some numbness in his extremities and some fine dexterity issues following chemo – the results from the PET are good enough that the dr halved the chemo drug that usually causes those side effects. It’s 4 days after chemo, and the numbness is only barely present (this is when it would be peaking). So good there, too.
The other good thing is the white blood cell count. We had seen his levels drop so precipitously after each treatment – it was something the previous clinic delayed treatment for. Two treatments ago, his white blood cell count started at 1.9 (“low” is under 4; normal is 4.5 to 10) and the dr just said to go ahead with the chemo. We were concerned that his levels would reach ‘cannot be measured’ territory – 0.0001 or something. But his levels before this round were steady at 1.9. Like this is the sustainable low, and it isn’t going to crash down too much lower than that.
It’s still terribly low as we continue through the heart of cold season. But is is comforting to think that there is a immune system there, even if it’s getting pretty beat up right now.