The first visit -- to the surgeon who removed the tumor -- went well. He took some x-rays and said all the screws were still in place and the surgical incision has healed nicely. He said that Marshall needs to wear the brace for one more week and then he can slowly wean himself off of it.
Then we went to get the lab work done, and from there we met our patient advocate friend for lunch.
At 1:00 we went to our appointment with the oncologist. The PSA has gone up from 40 to 43. That is really not bad at all. It's staying kind of steady.
But then the oncologist pointed out some small spots on the liver and said it's not at all clear if those spots are cancer or if they are something else. More scans are in order to find out definitively what those spots are. So now in the middle of a week of radiation he is going to have to get a full body scan and a CT scan and then on Friday we will see the oncologist again to get the results.
Dr. Flaig feels like it is very close to time for Marshall to start having chemo (every 21 days) and we will talk about that on Friday as well. He feels that Marshall needs to be a little stronger before doing chemo so we would need to get through the radiation first and rest a bit before starting it. There are also other drugs available that could be used depending on how things stand with the liver.
So Marshall left the hospital today in a huge depression. It's hard to not be depressed. I must say, though, that he is not going into the kind of depression I've seen in the past.
After seeing Dr. Flaig we went for Marshall's radiation treatment and then back to the hotel. A long and emotional day.
Now we need to see what happens with the scans. Please send prayers and good thoughts our way!
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