Cancer-Biology 101

[fictional]

Yesterday, we went to the doctor for the results of the latest PET/CT scan. And the news was what the doctor called "mixed" and I call "sucktastic".

Doctor: (examines my dad much closer than usual) So, do you have any new pain? Any coughing? Any anything?
Kali's Dad: No...?
Doctor: No? Really? ...Really? Hmm. Are you sure?

(Kali & Kali's dad exchange glances, which basically indicate, oh god, this can't be good.)

Doctor: Well. Hmm. The news is... mixed.
Kali's dad: Hit me.
Doctor: So. Basically the tumor is smaller. A little. Well, the one in the lung's upper lobe anyway.
Kali's dad: ...
Doctor: Which means the chemo's killing it. A little. But more importantly, the cancer is more metabolically active. Than before. So basically, it's smaller, but it's getting ready to replicate like crazy. And in the lymph, while the mass is smaller, it's more, um, spread out. Which isn't a good sign.
Kali (silently): No I'd call that a fucking bad sign.
Kali's dad: Right...?
Doctor: So, the chemo's not working, and it's killing your kidneys, so we're gonna stop it.
Kali's dad: Okay...?
Doctor: Instead we're going to go with our second line defence, which is a drug called Tarceva. Chemo had 40% chance of working. This has a 20% chance. It's hard to tell because normally it doesn't work at all in people who've smoked (my dad smoked two packs a day), or tumor cells that don't have this particular genetic mutation (which my dad's tumor doesn't have). But your tumor doesn't have the mutation that DEFINITELY says it's not going to work, so we're going to try it.
Kali: This might seem like a dumb question, but why not finish the course of chemo that you had planned? I mean, if it is killing the cancer cells, maybe it just needs more time to work?
Doctor: We don't want to waste precious time.
Kali & Kali's dad: !!!!
Kali: Wait, tell me again, how is this news MIXED?!?!

Le sigh.

Comments

I Can Sympathize

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

As my husband's oncologist once said, ten or fifteen years from now, we're going to look back on chemotherapy and current treatments for cancer and say "Wow. That was practically voodoo"

Chemotherapy, for all the good it can do, is still very much hit or miss and based on 'killing the cancer SLIGHTLY faster than we kill the patient' - and sometimes, the latter gets ahead of the former and it's time to change, which is what it sounds like with your dad.

There's still a chance they can put the kibbosh on the metabolically active areas and that's a GOOD thing. That's why it's "mixed" rather than "Frustrating and/or bad"

My hubby's stuck on a plateau at the moment which has us climbing the walls. It won't be until the next CAT scan that we know if it's just the one tumor being stubborn, or maybe it's retreated but a whole bunch of other areas have lit up, instead - in which case, there ain't much mixed about it. Sigh.

*hugs* Good luck.

Re: I Can Sympathize

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

*hugs back* I can't even imagine going through this with a partner. This whole parent thing is BAD ENOUGH. I hate cancer, I hate it. *throws temper tantrum*

And yeah, I can totally see how medical science of the future is going to look back at chemo like we look back at civil war amputations.

Thanks for the hugs and understanding. You hang in there too. I hope things work out with the next scan.

Re: I Can Sympathize

[ophymirage.livejournal.com]

Hi honey - as a reminder, we are all pulling for Alex, & for you too. *hugs*