Doctor Visit

We met with the Radiation Oncologist yesterday.  He was very encouraging after looking at Lisa and finding out how her energy level had been improving.  He'd like to set up a CT/PET scan within the next few weeks to establish a new baseline, even if it's a bit soon and there's still some residual radiation effects or inflammation from Lisa's biopsy surgery that "lights up" the image somewhat.  He's in total agreement with the MD Anderson opinion that Lisa should not be taking "maintenance chemo" while all evidence in the way Lisa's feeling better points away from a growing tumor.

Lisa is still bothered by her fast heartbeat and mild arrhythmia and will have a meeting with the heart specialist this coming week.  The results from her 24-hour monitor shows that she does have a fast heart rate, but it is mostly normal rhythm, and the occasional arrhythmia is what's usually called a PVC (premature ventricular contraction) and that's not uncommon even among otherwise healthy people and generally isn't a health risk. Below is a sample print of Lisa's heart EKG, and you can see that the parts marked as "3" are a textbook match to the ones shown on the website link.  And this was while she was sleeping!

They did do blood work to make sure, and everything they tested is normal, except that Lisa is still somewhat anemic as a leftover from the chemo and radiation, which also would be a contributing factor to her consistently faster heart rate, and fatigue after activity.

Lisa is still coughing a lot, but sometimes she coughs up dead tumor tissue.