Breathing room

The scan results showed that the spot in the liver had only shrunk by 2mm after 9 doses of Abraxane.

My doctor feels that more chemo at this point would not produce enough benefit.  SO, I am done with chemo.

This gives me a sense of relief.

He also explained that there COULD be microscopic lesions elsewhere in the liver, and that pursuing this one spot with more aggressive therapy (i.e. radiation) may also turn out to be moot, should those other possible spots decide to start growing.

Our approach is to do nothing, wait, and watch.  We will repeat the scan in 3 months.

While the looming black cloud of  "your liver could actually be full of cancer and we just don't know it" (how I heard the conversation), is hanging over my head, the over all scan results were favorable.

No new metastases, AND, the doc did re-confirm his previous stance that the possible reason for the spot to NOT respond well to chemo is that it MIGHT only be scar tissue.

Unfortunately, we don't know, and can't find out.

The uncertainty remains, so I was less than jovial about the scan results.

Oh, and restaging doesn't mean anything, really.

I will always be a stage 4.  That never gets taken off of my name.

In other news, the scan report included the words "evidence of previous hysterectomy."

Since I have never had a hysterectomy, we naturally questioned this.

While the doctor's only response to this was that he would put a call in to the radiologist to confirm, the head nurse had a more elaborate response to the question.

She explained that chemotherapy can cause the uterus to basically disappear.  I guess because it is a hollow vessel, and not a solid-tissue organ, what happens is that it collapses in on itself, and it shrinks up like a raisin.

Disgusting, but also apparently true.

She put the call in to the radiologist, but since it was Friday afternoon, we did not hear anything back to either confirm  nor deny this as being the reason for there not being a uterus on the scan.

If this IS what happened, rather than some technical or other kind of glitch, at least I have the comfort of knowing that I do not have to worry about my terrible periods coming back once my body recovers from chemo.  Bonus bright side to getting cancer.

It WOULD have been nice, however, to have known about this possibility prior to beginning treatments.  Informed consent and all that.

**EDIT Monday 4/4/26-- The nurse called.  I STILL HAVE A UTERUS.  I did not ask why the report said otherwise.  It has been amended. **

Be that as it may, I have 3 months to breathe, recover, and just go for my monthly bone injections.  I won't know what to do with myself!!