No More Scheduled Scans

Wednesday - April 17, 2014

Today's big (good) news from the oncologist is that he does not advise scheduling regular and routine PETs and MRIs.  Given the fact that I remain symptom-free 18 months since my last chemo round, the danger of excessive radiation outweighs the potential of early red flags.  The plan going forward is that I will visit clinic and see my oncologist every three months while staying (hyper) vigilant for symptoms such as night sweats, fever, and any lumps.  So I am off the hook for full body x-rays for the near future!

Today's other (not-so-wonderful) news from the clinic is that my liver enzymes are all way back up - back to the post-methotrexate highs of Virginia.  I have no symptoms of liver disease.  Without the steady iterations of blood tests, we would have no clue about the liver enzymes.   But the blood doesn't lie so the time has come for that much debated liver biopsy to try to determine what inflammation or disease is producing these stubbornly elevated levels.   I'm scheduled for the day-long, out-patient procedure in two weeks.  Can you believe that we're on yet another diagnostic journey?  At least we know that scans have shown that my liver and other nether regions are tumor-free.  Cancer won't be the answer in this case.  But what exactly is causing these stubborn liver enzymes to be so out of whack?