Back from Bethesda II

I haven't had much to report since the end of my post-surgery radiation and first phase of chemo a few weeks ago.  Kind of felt suspended in an extended and discouraging wait-and-see limbo there for a while.  Finally, last week, Lenore and I made a second trip out to Bethesda to the NeuroOncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute.  I had an MRI and met with Dr. Fine and Dr. McNichol.  As I expected, the MRI was rather inconclusive -- not as good as I might have hoped but not as bad as I might have feared.  While there was no indication of any new tumors, there was evidence of some anomalous tissue near the site of my initial surgery.  This could be due to radiation damage or it might be some residual tumor material.  Because it is difficult (if not impossible) to make any firm conclusions based on a single MRI snapshot, we will be heading back to Bethesda in early January for another MRI as well as a PET scan.  If the extent of the anomalous tissue is reduced it will be evidence that it radiation damage rather than tumor growth (good news).  Conversely, if the size of the signal increases it would be consistent with renewed tumor growth (not so good news)..

Because molecular analysis suggests a tumor type that is relatively resistant to Temodar (my primary chemotherapy agent) I resumed treatment yesterday under an alternative dosing schedule.  In the standard treatment, relatively high doses of chemo are delivered for five days followed by three weeks off.  My schedule calls instead for cycles of three weeks of daily lower doses followed by one week off.  By the time we return to Bethesda, I should have completed one cycle of this treatment regime. /dps