Last scans

As you'll see, the intensity of the last few weeks completely overwhelmed my opportunity and ability to blog, so I'm putting this in for archival purposes. This is based on my email from Friday July 10th 2009.

Jen has now had her scans, and it's not good news. She had a CT scan last Thursday (July 2nd) because of ten days of abdominal pain, some of which may have been due to the amount of codeine she was taking for pain relief for radiotherapy burns. Last Friday (July 3rd) we had the first bad news. The CT scan results showed multiple metastatic tumours in Jen's liver, on both sides, and small spots throughout. As a result Jen's liver is quite swollen, and that's the main cause of the abdominal pain. On Saturday evening (July 4th) she was admitted to hospital because of the pain, and was there until yesterday (July 8th). The good part about being in hospital was that they were able to work out effective pain relief medication, so Jen could finally get some sleep. She really appreciated the care from the hospital staff, although there were some other patients who needed to sleep with the television on all night. Jen's now enjoying being back at home, in her own bed, and seeing the boys again (they came in a few times to the hospital).

On Monday 6th July Jen had her PET scan (which shows tumour activity). This confirmed the liver tumours seen in the CT scan, and revealed some other secondary tumours: two in the chest and two suspected ones in bones. Jen had a bone scan as well on Wednesday but we haven't yet heard the results. The only good news was that the radiation therapy has largely dealt with the primary tumour and the lymph nodes.

So the cancer is "back" - not that it ever went away - and it's more serious now. The secondaries in the liver are the main focus of concern, since they are life-threatening. Considering that the last PET scan in March showed no detectable tumour activity in the liver, it's clear that this particular cancer is developing rapidly.

Jen has started an oral chemotherapy drug called Xeloda (generic name capecitabine), which will be combined with an intravenous drug called Navelbine (generic name vinolrelbine). It will again be a three week cycle, with the Xeloda every day for two weeks, Navelbine on Days 1 and 8, and a break from treatment between days 14 and 21. This is a common third-line chemotherapy treatment.

The next six to eight weeks are critical. If the chemotherapy doesn't reduce the tumours, then Jen mightn't have a lot of time left - our oncologist was worried that Jen wouldn't make it to Christmas. If it does succeed then she might have months. There are other chemotherapy drugs that could be tried, but the chances of effective treatment seem to become less as the tumours become resistant to more drugs.

We're obviously not going on a long holiday, given Jen's treatment regime. We will still go and stay with Jen's family next week, and then Jen and I will be back in Melbourne on July 19th. If Jen's health allows, we'll try to have some more time away during the two week break between hospital visits in the chemo cycle. The boys will have at least 4-5 weeks off school, but not the whole term. We're talked to them about the seriousness of the Jen's cancer, and the current plans for treatment. They're both sad about the cancer, and disappointed that we won't have a holiday as we hoped.


Thanks for all the support we have received, especially family and friends who have done so much in the past week to look after the boys while Jen's been in hospital or at medical appointments. We'd still like to hear from you, whether by cards, or email or phone, although Jen may not always be up to telephone conversations. We'll send out an email update when we're back again. If you're a person who prays, the immediate concern is that the pain stays under control, and that the chemotherapy starts to work soon (which would reduce the liver
inflammation). We're also having to face a different future than we hoped for, which is especially heart-breaking as it affects the boys, but our ultimate hope is one that goes beyond death.