Encouraging News…Finally!
I just came back from talking with my oncologist. The biopsy did not find any cancer. There’s a small chance that the biopsy missed the tumor but those odds are very very small since they had no problem imaging it during the biopsy. What did they find? The found a fat deposit. That is not great but sure is a lot better than cancer!
Also, before the consult, I read the radiologist report from my most recent CT scan and compared it to the report from the scan that uncovered that 2nd cancer. Both scans reported the same mass and no change in size. I asked my oncologist whether the cancer was gone or not. He told me that usually the mass doesn’t go away but is pretty much dead. He also told me that the VM protocol has a 90% success rate (if one survives it like I did). The last thing he pointed out is that my CA 19-9 counter was falling. It was almost half of what it was before the protocol.
This is something I have to get used to. We don’t know if there’s cancer until we see it. In my case there’s nothing to see…maybe for a long, long time!
I really can’t describe how happy this has made me feel. I was preparing myself for bad news over the last 2 weeks. It built like a weight even when I managed it. I was steeled. I was ready to slog ahead. Now it might be a different slog but not in the same class of oppressiveness. I broke out into laughter a few times on the way home.
Well, what a development! I am in the process of setting up an appointment with a liver specialist, probably near Thanksgiving. We’ll also set up a new blood draw and a CT scan for the same day. I’ll get the exact date before the end of the week, and for once I’m in much less of a hurry.
Details
How the heck did I get a fat spot on my liver? Well I did a tiny bit of digging just before writing this post and the article I read on WebMD. It ran down the basics of “hepatic steatosis” or “fatty liver disease”. By the way, this is just me leaping to a probable conclusion but I will not be certain until the liver doc gets involved. First and foremost it could not be alcohol related. I have not had a spot of alcohol since a single 1-shot drink that I had in June, a few weeks before I started on that VM protocol. The article listed these possible causes, which I’ve marked as not-me and could-be:
Possible Cause | Not-Me or Could-Be |
Overweight or obese | Could Be – But actually I have been under 200 lbs since June and back then I had no spot on my liver either. |
Insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes | Could Be – My sugar numbers have been consistently high but below the official type 2 diabetes levels. So maybe. |
high levels of triglycerides or “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, or low levels of “good” (HDL) cholesterol | Not-Me – I’ve been good for years. |
I’m older | Could Be – Well duh! |
Polycystic ovary syndrome | Not-Me – I have no ovaries. |
Sleep apnea | Could Be – I have it but have been successfully using a CPAP for years going on decades. I sleep like a rock, so I doubt it |
An under active thyroid (hypothyroidism) | Not-Me – Hmmm, I don’t really know but I have no symptoms of it, so I doubt it. |
An under active pituitary gland (hypopituitarism) | Not-Me – Another one I don’t really know, but I have no symptoms, so I doubt it. |
Malnourished | Not-Me – Nope. |
Lost weight rapidly | Could Be – Yeah really, this could be a major cause. Between July and August I lost nearly 40 lbs over 25 days while going through the VM protocol. I was at a low of 178 lbs and am back to around 185 lbs this morning. The timing is consistent. I did not have a spot on my liver when I started that, and we only found the spot as I finished the protocol. |
Exposed to certain toxins and chemicals | Could Be – I grew up in NJ. I worked at all kinds of marginal jobs throughout the 1970s including ones using questionable chemicals, but if those things really affected me I’d point my finger at causing the pancreatic cancer, not a fat blob on my liver. But of course the whole point of chemo and especially the chemo used in the VM protocol is to expose me to exotically toxins and chemicals, so yeah maybe. |
A metabolic syndrome: A mix of conditions that makes it more likely to get type 2 diabetes and heart disease. With metabolic syndrome, one would need to have any 3 of these conditions: | Not-Me – I seem to have only 1 of 3 required to have this. See details below. |
Large waist size | Not-Me – 36 inches at my heaviest, down from 38 inches 2 years ago (Levis sizes, not tape measured) |
High triglycerides or LDL cholesterol | Not-Me – See above. |
Low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol | Not-Me – See above |
High blood pressure | Not-Me – The darnedest thing about this whole cancer ride is that a couple of months into my first treatments in 2019 my blood pressure went down to normal ranges. It had been marginally higher before that but not enough to trip any alarms. |
High blood sugar | Could Be – See above |
October 14, 2020 @ 1:55 pm
I am so glad you are getting through this, with the style, grace, wisdom, and knowledge that are the traits I know are you, my friend.
Everyday, we are in the bonus round, now. Worry a little less, love a little more and, Keep Truckin’.
\oxo/
kevin
October 14, 2020 @ 9:25 pm
Thanx my friend! Each minute is a gift and a sweet one at that.
October 14, 2020 @ 9:53 pm
Wow, thanks for sharing so many details. Really gives insight to your journey! And I’m SO thankful it was good news. I need to tell you a story of a friend’s husband who had fatty liver and how he turned it around. ❤️
October 15, 2020 @ 6:59 am
I’ll send you an email so you can tell me more. Everything I’ve read so far is that I need to reinforce good lifestyle habits and develop some new ones. Thanx!
October 14, 2020 @ 10:15 pm
That’s freaking wonderful! I’m ecstatic ~
Knowing you’ve made it through, beaten the odds and can finally celebrate the profound moment that it is, it gives me chills. I am beyond happy to hear the news.
Happy day there brother 🔥
October 15, 2020 @ 7:03 am
Thanx my friend! It’s still going to be a lot of checks to make sure I’m still not cancerous, ’cause we never know whether all of it is gone, but it sure is great to know I can say, “not today, death!”
October 15, 2020 @ 8:53 am
Woohoo!!! Such good news. So interesting about the blob. It’s like renovating your house: you rip up the carpet only to find you need to paint the baseboards, then see that the lighting needs updating and while you’re at it, maybe you should upgrade to 220 amps…. Anyway, this beats a cancerous tumor for sure! Celebrate big time! Love and hugs, Robin
October 15, 2020 @ 10:08 am
Hah, yeah that’s a great analogy! We’ve resumed house hunting too so we’ll be seeing some more of this kind of thing there too. I’m just hoping that we find nothing in my quarterly exams over the next year, bi-annual exams the next year, and annual exams after that!!!!
October 15, 2020 @ 11:36 pm
Oh, this is such good news, Geoff <3 Yay for annual exams until the cows come home.
Thank you for sharing the information, aside from Happy Making, it was interesting to read 🙂
Not that you are a cat, and I don't really know the circumstances, but reading this made me think of the danger of cats loosing weight quickly – liver problems.
October 16, 2020 @ 8:19 am
Yes, so cats get liver problems when they drop weight suddenly too! I believe that’s the primary cause for mine. Wow!
I’m going to aggressively go after this because I would like to have an occasional drink someday. It just tastes like being a grownup and I like being a grownup.
October 22, 2020 @ 10:25 am
This is such great news (excepting a little bit of misplaced lipids)!!! Also, it’s encouraging to know there is a point at which I can look forward to liking being a grownup…
October 22, 2020 @ 1:24 pm
Strangely, as I was preparing for bad news I went through the advantages of having a terminal disease with a short fuse. It was almost liberating to believe that I had a short lifespan ahead. It would have made retirement preparation and nest egg duration worries go away.
Now that I know that my lifespan is once again pretty open ended, I’ve resumed worrying about making my nest egg last… who knows? For 5, 10, 15 more years? I caught myself worrying about long term things like how well Social Security would be running, and how well the stock & bond markets would perform and hold value, all impacting how long the nest egg would be useful.
Now I’m back to thinking that as far as I can tell we’re good out to about 15 years from now, and then we’ll be dependent of Social Security exclusively. That’s good enough for me. In 15 years I’ll be 82 years old and unless by some miracle M and I remain robustly healthy and active then our money consumption rate at that age will have slowed considerably. Also, buying a house would do a lot to preserve equity for later. So, heck with it; we’re prepared and we’re agile, so we’ll be fine.
Sometimes it’s weird being a grownup!
October 28, 2020 @ 2:54 pm
Great news, indeed, Geoff! It bodes well to your state of mind that you wry, breezy humor is still in play. Never thought I’d chuckle–or express gratitude–after reading the phrase “pretty much dead.”
According to Ambrose Bierce’s “The Devil’s Dictionary,” you’ve begun wading into heaven:
HEAVEN, n. A place where the wicked cease from troubling you with talk of their personal affairs, and the good listen with attention while you expound your own.
Much love,
Brother Layton
October 28, 2020 @ 3:15 pm
Ooooh yep. I’ve gotten sensitive about how much I talk about myself. Damn but it’s scooped up so much of my life!
Anywaaaaay, it makes me laugh too, and helps me stay near some kind of equilibrium.
October 28, 2020 @ 9:08 pm
No one thinks you talk about yourself too much, especially your predicament. We all dig the details!
Re: the Bierce’s quote…I intended to focus more on the people listening [to you] with rapt attention.
;>D