Category: anatomy

Sharing my cancer story. It might be helpful, it might be interesting, it might be informative.

  • Ugh, spleen!

    I had an MRI this month, and an appointment with my oncologist. The good news is that my tumors continue to stay “stable” and don’t show any growth of note. Hip hip, hooray!!! He thinks the monthly Lanreotide shots have been doing their job, so I’ll continue those indefinitely. As I’ve said before, somatostatin analog…

  • Scanxiety!

    This past week I had an echocardiogram, bloodwork, an MRI, and then an appointment with my oncologist to discuss all the results. Verdict: my various tumors are growing so slowly they are considered “stable”, and although I do have new tumors, they are still quite small. In Cancer World, that is all GREAT NEWS, and…

  • The waiting game continues

    So, long story short, even though my scans in September showed “numerous” new tumors in my liver, lymph nodes, spleen, abdominal cavity, and right breast, my oncologists think I still don’t yet have enough tumor load to merit another surgery and/or a new treatment called PRRT (Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy). I am both frustrated and…

  • Here we go again…

    On Tuesday I had a 64Cu DOTATATE PET scan. This is only my second time having this particular scan, and last time in 2022 it revealed that my cancer had metastasized in a big way, which completely blindsided me. This time around I am much more mentally prepared to hear “bad news”: I belong to…

  • One year after surgery: a retrospective

    I’m still coming to terms with my new identity as a life-long cancer patient, as well as the transition from Librarian to not-Librarian. Most importantly, however, I have absolutely been loving being home after school with my daughter and eating dinner together. With my previous schedule, on an early day I’d get home at 6:45pm,…