Well, is your cup half full or half empty? That will decide how you view this news:
Dr. Downey feels Kristi's cancer is back - but only at the microscopic level. He didn't find any masses today, but her CA125 level continues to rise so he was inclined to start Kristi on hormonal chemotherapy. We agreed. We feel it's better than just doing nothing. Much of the anticipation each month is the unknown - not knowing whether her cancer is back or not. If we just accept that it is, then we can focus on doing something about it. If we do nothing, the risk is that it will spike up in a very short time (much like it started). If it did that, then we'd be looking at a much more aggressive type of chemotherapy. I'm not defending our decision (I don't need to do that) - I'm just walking you through our rationale. So, we're going to try this for 2 months and meet with him again in January. The drug she will take every day is called Tamoxifen. It is in pill form. The side effects should be quite minimal.
Kristi will continue with her monthly CA125 blood checks so we will continue to monitor her CA125 level. Although he told us not to expect a drop after the first month, the hope is that this new chemotherapy kills the cancer cells or at least stops the growth of the cancer. We actually were quite relieved walking out of Dr. Downey's office. We definitely saw this as good news. The thought of doing nothing and just waiting didn't sit well with either of us. This way we can get through the holidays and Kristi will be able to actually enjoy Christmas this year!!
Thanks again for all the prayers.
