Test results

Yesterday I went to see my oncologist at MD Anderson to get all my latest test results. My bone marrow biopsy was good - no cancer in the bone marrow. Whew.... When the cancer gets into the bone marrow it automatically makes it stage 4. I will be happy if I can limit the bone marrow biopsies to just once a year. They are not the most pleasant feeling thing to go through. All my scans came back good as well, just a few cyst and bumps here and there. So we just have the cancer in the stomach to treat. It looks like the cancer is only in the stomach right now so that means it's in remission in the chest area where I did the radiation last year. We are going to treat the cancer with an antibody treatment called Rituximab/Rituxan. The handout my doctor gave me states.... "Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that is given intravenously (into the vein). It works with the immune system to target and destroy cancer cells. Rituximab is used to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and may be given alone or in combination with other chemotherapy drugs". So I will do the treatment once a week for four weeks. I'm not sure how it will work with my immune system since it's next to null. Because of my sjogrens syndrome and chronic low white blood count, I don't have much of an immune system. In about four months I will do another stomach biopsy. The doctor said we'll do chemo at that time if the Rituximab doesn't knock out all the cancer. I will begin the antibody treatment this Friday. It'll take about six hours. I guess I'll pass the time on my ipod and bring my laptop. Luckily it won't make me lose any hair but it will make me feel sick. Chocolate time!! A good 'ole Hersheys bar seems to do wonders for me when I feel nauseous for some reason. And that would explain why I've gained 15 pounds over the last year. Pistachio nuts seem to help with nauseousness too. I never even liked those things until this year.
So.... that's the latest news. Until later......