Ken has his first MRI and chest CT since finishing treament on 2/23. They have told us these will be his new "baseline" scan to be able to compare to the inital scans and scans going forward. At his Dr. appt. on Tues. his oncologist said she did not want to take his PEG out until the "restaging" scans next week. Is this the same as baseline scans or does it mean something else? I am, of course, a nervous wreck and I am just trying to have the mindset this won't give us a definitive answer but will hopefully show progress. Is there anything else we should expect at this point? They did scope him on Tues. but he is still really swollen so they didn't poke around too much.
Ken is doing better. They haven't increased his pain meds in 3 weeks though they haven't started to decrease either. He has been able to eat yogurt, pudding a few tortellini, a few bites of french toast, ice cream and he even at a chicken wing (he couldn't resist but paid for it the next day pain-wise).

Hi Jill. I had my first PET scan about 4 months after finishing chemo and radiation. My radiation doc said doing it earlier would probably give a false positive due to irritation/inflammation. So even though it seems to be a bit early, to me it sounds like it is a normal check up. Same thing for the scope, thats part of a regular exam.

It sounds like Ken is doing great with his eating! It takes a while to relearn to eat again. Its much easier to leave the peg tube in until he can sustain himself entirely without it. My docs were strict with me and made me go 2 months without it before they would take it out. Keep up the calories of a minimum of 2500 and he will return to his usual self before you know it

Wow! That is awesome that Ken is doing so well, his pain seems managed and he's eating solids! That's amazing.

The "restaging" scans are just going to show how the cancer has responded to tx and any further steps, if any, that need to be taken.

Jill, it's OK to have hope...if we don't have hope what do we have really? Breath and believe my dear, it can happen, it can be OK. I'm an example of that as are many others on these forums. Just take it as it comes but hope is a good thing.


All peace and hope be with you and Ken my dear.

Eric

Thank you both. We went today and the MRI was blurry because he must have moved! The chest CT was ok - the 3mm node was still there and there is some inflammation on the right apex that they said is probably from aspiration. So now we have to schedule at CT of his neck. If things look ok he won't have to see his RO for 2 months. We see his oncologist on Friday. I called to see if they needed him to do another MRI because he was part of a clinical trial and they will call me back. Now we just have to get through Friday....ugh!

Just got back from ENT who also reviewed MRI and CT of chest and neck. He is please with how they look as well. He said Ken should have another chest CT in 3 months because of the nodes they are watching and he said, unless the clinical trial says otherwise, 6 months for another MRI/CT of the neck. The best part of the day was Ken got his PEG out! He still has some mucousitis and damage and swelling from the radiation but he hopes to be able to to work at the end of May. In the meantime our yard has never looked better since he has nothing else to do!!

Congrats to Ken for being PEG free!!!! That is the best feeling in the whole world when that accessory is removed. Its a sense of accomplishment!!! Sounds like the check up was a very good one. Way to go!!! Best of luck with the continued improvements with his recovery!

That is great news congratulations!