OP Supporting Member (50+ posts) Joined: Apr 2013 Posts: 76 | Just checking in to follow up on the previous posts. There was another PET and CT done this week. The good news is that the cancer is still confined to the hilar lymph nodes of the left lung. The other areas of concern on January's PET have turned out to be either radiation-related opacity that is now healing--or a slightly cracked rib that is now also healing.
So the two spots on the left side will be treated with 30-some doses of radiation starting on April 15th. Whether to use concurrent chemo to enhance the rads has not yet been determined. If new radiation field has any overlap with previous radiation field, then chemo may not be used, as this would evidently cause too much intensity to tissues that fall into the overlap area. Yesterday was the planning scan, so we should know that info soon.
All in all, the week's news was good. The nodes have increased in size (1.2 to 1.6), but remain stable.
Best to All, Mary
Mary Caregiver to husband, 60 Dx Sept '12 SCC BOT T2N2aMo, Stage IV, HPV+ Oct '12 Sub.Gland transfer Nov-Dec '12 IMRT x 33 + cisplatin x7 March '13 PET/CT: 2 spots on lungs; (BOT & neck lymphs NED) April '13 Biopsy: 1 = malignant right hilar lymph (met from HNSCC)p16 9/13: 33 rounds IMRT to lungs; carboplatinx7 CT w/contrast 12/30/13: 2 spots left hilar lymph. biopsy confirms SCC 30 rounds IMRT to left lung; treatment ended 5/29/14 Sept 2014--CT clear; December 2014 CT clear
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