More Twists and Turns

This afternoon we met with my new oncologist here in Hot Springs, Robert Muldoon.

I liked him alot. He was informative, direct and clear. Janet was also impressed. Jeff most of all because Dr. Muldoon spent time to reveal his reasoning about my case (and that he was in complete accord with Jeff's view only made Jeff more of a fan).

This is the deal. It is true I have a large, widely dispersed cancer but I am different from the vast majority of folks who seem to be like me on xrays and lab studies. My blood tumor markers of various sorts are either normal or only a tad elevated; not off the charts based on the size and spread of the tumor in usual situations. I appear to be relatively healthy with few symptoms of any sort. Jeff finally revealed that based on the results he had heard over the phone before arriving here he expected to see an Auchwitz victim with extreme disabilities. Ready to leave this world in days or weeks perhaps even before any chemo could be given. Trust me my condition is nothing like that...gaining five pounds in 10 days hardly points to Miz Flounce plummeting through the portals of death!

Dr. Muldoon thinks exactly the same way. He advises we pause to do a bit more poking and prodding to find a source of what seems to be a somewhat indolent cancer and work out a more specific treatment based on the findings. IF we can find anything.

So, they are going to try and schedule me for some tissue sampling in the lower abdominal area in the next few days then revise my chemotherapy cocktail if that seems appropriate. I feel very hopeful about this because some of the more unusual cancers that might look like mine are very treatable.

We shall see. I will keep you posted.

Judy (via Jeff)