The Cancer Center Chronicles - A Cancer Sucks Journey

NED!?

March 2023

For the past couple of months my husband has had a cough, not a productive cough, but just an every now and then cough. Reminds me of the before time of which I refer to his diagnosis so this time before his three-month scan and bloodwork and Oncologist appointment, I am a bit apprehensive though I never mention it to him. 

We go in, they take him quickly and all tests are over with within a short time. We have a couple hours to kill so we go out, have lunch, hit a bookstore and we're back for the appointment. The Oncologist tells him everything looks good and to him the nodule in his lung looks like it might be scar tissue and even a bit smaller. My husband tells him the Signatera test that he didn't want before he's now ready to have, but he doesn't want to know the results because it caused him too much anxiety last time. He says that it's okay if I look at it, that I just won't tell him. The Oncologist says that's good for him because it's a tool he likes to have. He did tell him about the small cough, and his lungs were listened to and probably taken note of by the doc. We left with a box for the new blood test. Results in a couple of weeks.

April 2023

So, I received notification in my email that there was new information on my husband's medical records. I looked. His circulating DNA is back. It's up a bit. Not a lot, but a bit. So, I'm not going to tell him because he wants that way and I'm going to hold on to that information knowing that this thing is more than likely there (if you research it, some say it's not a 100% thing) growing however slowly somewhere reproducing and will possibly form a tumor again. Again, not 100% sure, but he did have the mets in his lung that didn't get totally eradicated along with tiny other nodules in his other lung that are still too small to know what they are, and shadows on his liver that they don't know what they are. 

So, I get to know this, and now, so do you because someone else does or I will explode if I have to keep it to myself for the next few months.

July 2023

Yesterday we went for my husband's 3 month follow up scans and bloodwork and oncologist appt. All looked bloodwork was good, CEA was even 2.8.

So I know I've posted before about my husband and his Signatera. It had gone up over the year since his surgery from 0 to 4.63 (I may have gotten the number wrong before, but I just checked it). He also didn't want to know the number and only wanted me and the dr. to know and I kept the secret because he got terrible anxiety. Anyway, in his appointment with the Oncologist yesterday, the onc. revealed that the number had gone up. I know it was unintentional because he forgot and didn't look at his notes and he has lots of patients and he was probably kicking himself afterwards. I could tell on my husband's face at that moment, it was devastating news. (He mentioned it on the way home.) Anyway, the Oncologist said he wouldn't order any more Signatera because it was anxiety producing for my husband because they didn't treat it until something showed in the scans anyway and it had a possibility for error. That seemed to placate my husband.

So, today I read the notes, the Oncologist ordered the test anyway. He knows my husband doesn't read the Mychart, only I do and that I kept the secret from him as he wished. He knows I won't say anything. It's worrisome to me even more now. So I know it's probably against the doctor code or whatever, but I also know that if the test comes back really bad, he may order a PET scan to see if there is another tumor growing somewhere in his body that can be treated that the CT scan didn't pick up on. So that's the quandry. I know it's for the greater good.  

Anyway, I needed to tell someone my worries, so thanks for hanging in here with me so I can go about my life. Today is my husband's birthday and I need to be able to be present.