Leave it to me to be quirky...
Most people have two hepatic (liver) arteries - one to the right lobe, the other to the left. The hepatic angiogram i had last week showed that I have three - one right, two left. The doctors ended up doing a CT angiogram after this discovery and determined which of the two left arteries fed each of the tumors on the left side and made sure only a limited amount of healthy tissue would be impacted by sending the radiation spheres through both arteries.
The hepatic angiogram also showed the radiation "leak" into my lungs from the trial run was 5.5%, which was well within the acceptable range (ideally less than 10%, but must be less than 20%).
So, on March 6 I will have my first procedure to insert the spheres into one lobe of my liver. The downside is I cannot come home for two weeks because the radiation exposure is too much for the kids. The radiation oncologist, Dr. Gibbons, suggested I spend the first few days in a hotel to limit repeated family member/caregiver exposure. Then I will be going to my parents' home for the remaining days.
About 4 to 5 weeks later they will do the other lobe, I will stay away for two weeks again, and hope that this radiation shrinks the tumors in my liver enough that my liver can regain normal function. About two weeks after that I will start chemo again to treat the cancer both in my lymph nodes and the (withering!) liver tumors.
I know following all this medical stuff can be confusing, boring, freaky, etc. Thanks for being willing to keep up with this winding journey.
3 comments:
See everyday it is confirmed that you are the outlier! So withering tumors it will be! We will be thinking of you (as always) during these next few weeks, and checking in on your superhero status! xo
Suzanne, with what you are going through you are worried about boring your audience? You are amazing. And we love you. And the writer in me actually understands.
Not boring, Thank you for sharing ! Soak up lovey time with those kiddos now and I hope the two weeks away slides by quickly. ((Big hugs)) and happy thoughts <3
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