Had my MRI today, not a banner day. There was some good news, the oncologist does not think the new tumours they found 8 months ago are tumours at all, but 'white matter disease' that is a result of the radiation therapy I had. Yea, that’s the good news.
A little explanation is needed for the rest of the story. The 'tumour' that was discovered over 4 years ago, Diffuse Astrocytoma, had two parts; a solid clump of cells, and a 'diffuse' part that grew out from it that is widely spread out with ill-defined boundaries. The diffuse part is inoperable because one, it is spread out over a large area, and two, it really isn't causing any major problems. I have had like 30 MRI's over that past 4 years, and the appearance of this diffuse part has not changed...until today. The diffuse are grew in size by about 10% in the past 6 months.
Note that this past 6 months I've been on Temodar chemotherapy. Clearly, Temodar is not working against this growth. The oncologist said that authough the biopsy indicated that this was a Astrocytoma, it is acting more like an "Oligodendroglioma". Say that ten times fast. Now the Oligodendroglioma with my genetic markers warrants a different treatment, a different kind of chemotherapy.
This recipe is quite different that Temodar,
6 week cycle:
week 1: Lomustine (CCNU).
weeks 2,3: Procarbazine
weeks 4,5,6: off
And throw in vincristine as needed.
The Lomustine and Procarbazine are oral (pills). The vincristine is an IV.
This repeats for 6 cycles, which is 9 months. Happy new year!
So off I go an a new adventure. I have lots to learn.
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