Thank you so much for your prayers! The doctor took a lot of time with us on Friday and answered lots of questions, which we really appreciated. As it turns out, they are NOT recommending chemo--for all the reasons that we were originally told. It is resistant to chemo and surgery is the best treatment. He is not even recommending surgery at this time (although we will be making an appointment with a lung surgeon to get her take on that). Because all the spots are under 3mm and typically slow growing, they want to continue the scans to watch them and observe the changes over a longer period. Another scan is scheduled in 2 months. If any of the spots appear to be acting up or growing too fast, then we will see about the surgery to remove them. Waiting also gives it time to see if any others will develop so they can get them all at the same time and not put him through any unnecessary surgeries.
The really good news is that there is a new drug that has had great success in leukemia patients resistant to chemo. It appears that the same drug is showing promise in soft tissue sarcomas. It is typically given to much older patients though, who take it the rest of their life. So they are not recommending that Aaron take it at this time due to his age. Further testing is needed, but it could be a very promising drug option for him at some point.
What a roller coaster ride! But we are feeling optimistic at this point. Aaron especially was tremendously relieved that he doesn't have to do chemo and left the meeting feeling very upbeat. I have to say, the doctors at Moore's Cancer Center have been tremendous!
No comments:
Post a Comment