Full Report

[dadmo]

Alucard:
If you didn't have anxiety that would be a problem.

[Jens]

Hi Al.

Just hang in there. You will be fine!

Best wishes
Jens

[Alucard]

3rd BEP cycle over. Next starting 20/6.

[dadmo]

Now the end is clearly in sight. How are you feeling? How is your blood work?

[Alucard]

Everything is alright.. I felt like crap during the first 5 days of the 3rd round but I am much much better now, almost normal. Zofran is wonderful.

Like the other guys, I can't work so staying home drives me crazy sometimes but it's not that bad.

I don't know if it will be over even after the 4th cycle though, when I breathe I feel this thing on my right lung like it's really messed up, I don't know, all they say is that I have to take painkillers when the pain is real bad. I am waiting to see, the doctor said I should do all the blood tests, ct, x-rays etc 2 weeks after the last day of chemo to see how it went.

Al

[Alucard]

Pet

Hey,

I finished 4xBEP two weeks ago and I'm back to normal and everything.

Those tumours I have on my lungs are still there but there AFP/bHCG are ok after the chemotherapy.

I don't know if that's right, what's the purpose of the chemotherapy if they are still there? I have a PET scan next week. How is it like? The doctor said that based on the PET scan he would tell me if I need more chemotherapy or if I will only have to keep checking my blood every three months.

What should I ask him? I'm kind of lost here.

Thanks in advance,

Al

[DianeE]

Hi Al,

I don't know much about it, but I believe a lot of the guys had
dead tissue leftover after chemo and that might be what you have.
I'm sure some of the folks who know about it will give you answers.

Great to hear from you and I'm glad you're finished with the chemo.
If your numbers are normal, it sounds like the chemo worked!

Diane

[Fish]

Hi Al:

Glad to hear you're finished with chemo. I agree with Diane, since your tumor markers are back to normal, I'd say there is a good chance that the tumors are now just dead tissue and/or scar tissue. The PET scan should be able to determine if there are any live cancer cells remaining, but it sounds like they killed all the cancer.

Best wishes.

[Scott]

I finished 4xBEP two weeks ago...

You might ask if it's too soon for a PET scan. According to a recent post on TC-NET, "You can't have a PET scan until you are six weeks past the end of chemo. If you do the PET scan too soon, inflammatory changes from the chemo may result in a false negative (i.e., the inflammation soaks up all the FDG, leaving nothing for the tumors to soak up if they are still active)."