Decisions on Cancer 11.06.18
Yesterday was a big day for decisions. I decided that I did not like the risks from Immunotheropy added to chemotherapy. After talking to my Dr. we are moving ahead with the following:
Put in a port in my chest within 2-3 days. This will help them give me drugs without having to find veins in my arms. It also dumps the drugs into a major blood supply so that toxic drugs are not concentrated in the small veins in my arms.
This will be followed 4 months of chemotherapy pre-surgery, don't yet know how many months post surgery. This will come in chemotherapy sessions once every two weeks. He mentioned a FLOT regimen.
Visiting a radiation oncologist for radiation therapy
Start talking to a thoracic surgeon.
PET scan to determine how cancerous one of my lymph nodes are. This may not be covered by insurance.
Talk to doctors in Sloan Kettering to see what their opinions are.
What is the difference between chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The doctor had a great analogy.
Cancer is like weeds. If one just does surgery, it is like pulling weeds. If one does not get the roots, the weeds will come back. Radiation therapy is very targeted on the local roots at the location. It kills the tissue with precision. Chemotherapy seeks out fast growing cells and kills them. It will kill the roots but not with as much aggressiveness as radiation therapy. What it does well is kill cancer cells that may have spread elsewhere in the body. Think of these as seeds or spores that could land somewhere else and start growing cancer. Doing both helps outcomes.
The good news is that I seem to be gaining weight. Not exercising and eating constantly seems to be a sure fire method of gaining weight.
Put in a port in my chest within 2-3 days. This will help them give me drugs without having to find veins in my arms. It also dumps the drugs into a major blood supply so that toxic drugs are not concentrated in the small veins in my arms.
This will be followed 4 months of chemotherapy pre-surgery, don't yet know how many months post surgery. This will come in chemotherapy sessions once every two weeks. He mentioned a FLOT regimen.
Visiting a radiation oncologist for radiation therapy
Start talking to a thoracic surgeon.
PET scan to determine how cancerous one of my lymph nodes are. This may not be covered by insurance.
Talk to doctors in Sloan Kettering to see what their opinions are.
What is the difference between chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The doctor had a great analogy.
Cancer is like weeds. If one just does surgery, it is like pulling weeds. If one does not get the roots, the weeds will come back. Radiation therapy is very targeted on the local roots at the location. It kills the tissue with precision. Chemotherapy seeks out fast growing cells and kills them. It will kill the roots but not with as much aggressiveness as radiation therapy. What it does well is kill cancer cells that may have spread elsewhere in the body. Think of these as seeds or spores that could land somewhere else and start growing cancer. Doing both helps outcomes.
The good news is that I seem to be gaining weight. Not exercising and eating constantly seems to be a sure fire method of gaining weight.
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