Latest PET Scan Results

Derek had a PET Scan on Wednesday, March 10th. A few days before the Pet Scan, I spoke with our friend, Janet Poston, from Tennessee. We met her, along with her husband, Stan, at CCC (Camelot Cancer Care) this past November while Stan and Derek were both being treated. Janet had told me to call ahead and ask if we could speak with the doctor who reads the scans, Dr. Chacko. I am grateful to God that we did, as he was very informative and thorough. It is not within Dr. Chacko's job description to meet with the patients. He usually just reads the scans and faxes his reports to the ordering doctor, however, he took time to sit down and explain in great detail all that was going on in Derek's body. We feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to meet with him and look at not only this scan, but November's as well. We were able to compare the scans, side by side, and see the changes in the tumor. Knowing the results and having answers within hours rather than waiting days for a phone call was a HUGE relief. There are no words to describe the anxiety days and hours leading up to these scans and in the wait for the results!!! It was wonderful to leave Oklahoma City with answers!! Also, these Pet Scans are very accurate at reading what is going on in Derek's body and with the cancer. A comfort to Derek is that this PET Scan uses a fourth of the radiation of Pet/Cat scans!! The trip to Oklahoma City is well worth it!! That plus, after meeting with Dr. Chacko, we completely understand why Maureen (director/owner/operator of CCC) uses and trusts only him. We were told he is one of the best at what he does...and we believe it!

The Results~
Dr. Chacko showed us the scans and explained that while the tumor appears bigger, it is less metabolically active. The SUV values are down from November's values of 8.8 to Wednesdays values ranging from 7.9 to 8.3 at the hottest - meaning the cells are less aggressive. Even though, the numbers are down only slightly, they are still DOWN..progress is progress! He also explained that when it comes to cancer you cannot look at size.. many aggressive tumors outgrow their blood supply, and will appear to be shrinking, just before taking off and spreading. In other words, shrinking does not equal curing...hmmm, imagine that. Also, cell death can cause edema (swelling) and it could very well be just that. He explained that with sarcomas, (Derek's in particular), they are extremely aggressive and usually spread "like wildfire". He told us with most that he has seen (and he's seen many) that is usually the case. With chemo, they can build up a resistance and become more aggressive. He showed us all the of places that liposarcomas usually spread (the liver, lungs, spine, and behind the stomach), all of which are clean...NO METASTASIS!! Not even in the lymph nodes near the tumor.. it is all contained locally!! According to Dr. Chacko, what we are doing is not necessarily 'curing' the cancer, but it is definitely holding it at bay. Now...we had been off the treatments for three to four weeks prior to the scan; and because of financial reasons, we had been spreading the usual, four day bags out over seven days. I feel that we can definitely get more aggressive. We know that what we have is aggressive so we need to become more so! We can't give it a moment... With all that being said, we will be returning to CCC, in order to get with our team and come up with a new game plan. Once we have done that, we will update again.
Thanks for reading and especially for the prayers!
Misty