Day 114 - The Plan for Recovery

I'm not out of the woods yet, but I've finished my last scheduled chemotherapy and am coming out of my bad days nicely. Since I have tenatively committed to returning to work and graduate school full-time on February 16th, I'm fairly confident that going forward, I will only be treated with radiation. That being said, here's what my doctor has planned for me.

On February 10th, I will undergo a PET scan. The purpose of this scan is to see what cancer cells in my body are still active. This scan is different from the previous scans which measured only the size of the tumor. Regardless of size, if the tumor or cancer cells are not actively growing anywhere in my body, then the remaining tumor can be killed with radiation. My Oncologist informed me that at this point, I will beat the cancer, it's just a matter of how. If active cancer cells are still growing, I may need to undergo 1-2 more chemos.

That being said, here's what I do know about my tumor. After the first 2 chemos, it shrank 66%, and after the next 2, it only shrank about 5% more. So the active cells mostly died in the first 2 treatments. Another interesting tidbit about cancer is that it grows when your body is in an acidic state, or less than 6.0 pH. I tested mine this week and my body is in balance leaning toward an alkaline state at 7.0-7.25 pH. So cancer would have a difficult time being active in my body in it's current state. It's only speculation at this point, but I won't know the plan for sure until my Oncologist gets my report on February 12th.

Once I've completed treatment and have beaten the cancer, I hope to dedicate this blog to more uplifting adventures like camping, fishing, and snowboarding. Thank you again for your prayers and support.

Greg