Best Of

My daughters pool is finally repaired and being filled. Hopefully I will be swimming soon. This has been a challenging summer. Hot and stormy. Spent this last week fighting a stomach bug. Hope to be back on track and swimming next week.

hi everyone,

This is an update on my condition that I previously described here — perhaps it will help someone going through a similar situation.

I had written earlier about the unexplained rise in my CA 15-3 tumor marker.

The PET scan did not show any new lesions, and the existing ones are in continuous regression.

However, the MRI showed a suspicious area in the T9 vertebra, which was accompanied by some pain — though the pain lasted only a few days and then resolved.

We followed up with a PET scan, which showed no uptake in the T9 area, leaving the oncologist puzzled and unsure about the next step.

He suggested that I meet with a radiation oncologist to explore the possibility of radiation treatment to this vertebra and to discuss the situation further.

After a meeting between the three of us — the oncologist, the radiation doctor, and myself — the radiation doctor suggested we wait for a month and repeat the MRI to monitor the area.

If the lesion shows progression, we would proceed with radiation therapy.

If there is no change, we would continue with the current treatment and keep monitoring.

Regarding the L4 vertebra, where the lesion initially appeared when the disease recurred (and where there is now a fracture),
both the oncologist and radiation doctor recommended doing a vertebral cement procedure (vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty) to fill the gap, which they believe is the source of my ongoing back pain.

As for the scattered areas that showed uptake in the recent PET scan, they were soft tissue and not bone,

and the report mentioned that they are unlikely to be lesions.

Still, the doctor recommended an ultrasound to confirm.

I already did an ultrasound of the left foot area, and now I will be doing one for the shoulder area.

My question is:

Has anyone else been in a similar situation — feeling stuck due to conflicting findings and uncertainty in decision-making?

And can a doctor decide on radiation therapy based solely on MRI findings?

I asked for a biopsy, but the doctor was not supportive of that, as the area is risky and full of nerves.

@alden722 You do seem to have a lot going on! One thing I forgot-initially letrozole was causing me to have insomnia. I cut out caffeine completely-also cut out alcohol and the quality of my sleep greatly improved. Now I have a little caffeine with Coke Zeros and decaf coffee but getting good quality sleep was key to regaining energy. Keep that good balance of exercise and rest.

Hopefully your body will adjust soon. I’m on my 14th cycle of Ibrance 125mg and still have lots of fatigue. We’ll see how my next set of scans are and maybe talk about dropping down to the 100. I try to get like nine hours of sleep, longer on the weekends. I still work full-time. I have three kids and walk a big dog so I am definitely active during the day. Letrozole has been horrible with causing insomnia so I often have to take a sleep aid to fall asleep. As long as this drug keeps working so well, I’ll deal with some fatigue.