CT Scan Results and New Regime

CT Scan Results: On Monday 10/12 I had another CT scan, and received the results on Tuesday, 10/13.  Long story short, the results were not the best, as the tumors in the liver appeared to grow 10% (not sure if 10% of the original size or 10% of the liver), and there was also minimal growth in the lungs (<1 millimeters).  This evidence of resistance of the tumors to the chemo was enough for the doctor to change the regime of Folfox to Folfiri (replace Oxaliplatin with Irinotecan), and replace Avastin with Celebrex.  

I expected that there would be some growth since the last CT scan, as the CEA has slowly been creeping up, and the good side of the growth we're seeing is that it's in the liver which we can operate on (another ablation or resection).  Obviously this wouldn't be optimal, as prepping for an operation requires me to pause chemo and may allow the cancer to grow, but at least we have options.

New Regime: As mentioned above, Dr. Harris suggested moving from Folfox + Avastin to Folfiri + Celebrex.  Celebrex is an anti-inflammatory drug primarily used to combat arthritis, but the Doctor noted that there were some anti-cancerous properties which we may benefit from which is pre-clinical trial.  I had the first dose of this regime, which is similar to what I had last year as my first-line chemo (minus the oxaliplatin), earlier this week.  The fatigue felt about the same as the last regime I was on, but the initial nausea was more intense, causing me to vomit for the first time since I started chemo.  I'm also noticing that my hair is falling out much quicker than the past regime, so I may need to shave my head again.  Lastly, moving off of Oxaliplatin should help with reducing my cold sensitivity and may help with my hand-foot syndrome.

Overall, I'm still feeling fine, no symptoms of the disease, and am definitely looking forward to the holiday/Christmas season.  Hope you all are well, and thanks again for all the support!

- Jerome