As the doctor said, "It's not good."
The CT and PET show that Lisa's cancer has spread within the lungs, and also further in her leg bone that's been hurting her. In her lungs, although one tumor decreased by about a third in size, all of the others grew, with increases of individual tumors as much as double in size. In addition to the radiologist's report, I have the scans themselves, and as I look at the PET/CT image, the report puts into words what I see: "...significant progression of disease... has significantly increased in size now consuming much of the right side of the hemithorax" (chest).
There is no invasion of Lisa's other abdominal organs, thankfully. A brain scan will be done on Friday to confirm there's no problem there either (we'll get results the following Wednesday).
The doctor wants to stop the current chemotherapy combination and try something else, a mix of Navelbine (which Lisa has had before) with Gemzar. Our oncologist will consult with M.D. Anderson, and if they concur, it will start next week. The doctor said that with Lisa's history and the chemo-resistant nature of this aggressive cancer, there's still perhaps a 15-20% chance that this new combination could have a positive effect.
