Last CT Scan

Last Thursday I had a CT scan and received the results Friday. The radiation oncologist from Seattle wanted the scan to see what kind of impact the radiation had on the tumor. There was no discernible change in size of the tumor, which was to be expected. Going into the radiation, if there was a reduction at all, they were only expecting about a 3-5% reduction. The idea behind the radiation was not to kill, or shrink the tumor, but to encapsulate the tumor to make it easier for resection. The comparison of the two scans demonstrated a hazier look of the recent scan, which they believe is some necrotic (dead) tissue- thinking that the radiation worked to encapsulate it. Additionally, the radiation would sterilize the field of any microscopic tumor residue that could not be seen during surgery and lower the chances of recurrence.

I also had two nodules they found in my left lung on the original CT scan. Most people have these nodules in their lungs that could be scar tissue or something that is completely benign/irrelevant. Given the recent diagnosis of cancer (and one that is know to spread to the lungs), these were something we would need to monitor. There was no change in the size of these at all, so they are very likely just some random nodules in my lung like most people have. That was the very good news out of that report, as it was concerning about the potential for spread.

So overall, it was a good scan and on to surgery.