So we get a call about 45 minutes to an hour before our appointment. "Mrs Schmit? Did the doctor talk to you about your IV treatment tomorrow?" (insert panic here) Come to find out it was the financial department telling me what we already knew. Yervoy treatment is really really pricey. In the range of $150,000 pricey. We knew this already. She was making it sound really bad. As if insurance had denied the treatment. So we go in early to meet with their office. Come to find out they wanted to inform us we were going to reach our deductible, as if we didnt know...
Approximately an hour later we finally get to see the doctor. Prepared for the worst we waited for him to spit out the news. The good news is no cancer in my brain, and no new tumors anywhere else! yay! Bad news is that the tumor in my lung has doubled in size. That said, we plan on continuing on with the Yervoy IV therapy tomorrow. That is 12 weeks of treatments. Treatment will be every 3 weeks. At the end of 12 weeks we will go back in for a new PET scan, CT scan and likely an MRI. This will see if any new cancer has formed. It will also check in on my lung tumor. The Yervoy will treat any microscopic cancer and kill it off. However if there are any existing tumors or cluster cells it will make it grow. So it will cause my lung tumor to grow.
After we get the results of my PET scan in 12 weeks we will do one of the following...
-If I have only the 1 tumor still there we will be in touch with a general surgeon and have it cut out. Then just be monitored closely to see if any new tumors pop up. No further planned treatment.
- If there are many tumors they plan on getting me in touch with a surgeon and cutting them out. Then I will have Chemo. And after that who knows.
We are obviously hoping that option 1 is the case here. Granted we did not want the tumor to grow, and were not planning on being cut open again. This is the first time the doctors have mentioned surgery on my lung. So its kinda scary to think about, but Ill take what I can get.
The doctor seems very optimistic. He said he didnt want to give us 'false hope' but that with the way things are going my case seems like we will have a good ending. It took 12 years for new tumors to show up after my last "all clear" surgery. So hes thinking with close monitoring we should be able to keep it at bay, or gone entirely. As long as our first scenario is the one that plays out. Im hoping for no new tumors!
So for tomorrow, I have a full day. Day #1 of treatment, and counting down another 12 weeks. Guess I also need to clear my calender 12-14 weeks from now, as theyll be cutting me open again. Hey, at least this time I get to keep what little hair I have left! :) thats a bright side.
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