Flora Oncologist Visit and Report...

Pam and Roberta took Flora to her first Oncologist appointment yesterday and were expecting very bad news from what Pam was told from the PET scan results last Friday. But, it turned out to not be as bad as they feared...

Basically, there is one large tumor in her left lung and a number of other places in the lung that are involved. It appears that the cancer is contained in the lung, which is good news. By, where it is located it is not operable, so that is not an option. Also, with the extent of the involvement in her left lung and her current health, the doctor felt that radiation was not a current option.

But, with all the new advances in Chemotherapy, he felt that they could use that to control and reduce the cancer involvement in her lung and in general - and with some good results and 'luck', could get her lung functioning well enough again to be able to broaden the medical options, and do some radiation later on to further reduce the cancer. She met with her Oncologist today who will be administering the chemo. As we all might know -- the chemo will cause her to loose her hair, so she got to pick out two wigs from a room full of brand new wigs that are lovingly donated to the cancer center to wear once her hair starts to fall out. She is having her first Chemotherapy treatment on Friday, Feb. 2, and will have them every 3 weeks for the time being. She will attend a chemotherapy class Tuesday.

It seems like the current situation is much better now than was first reported by the PET scan results last week. There have been a lot of folks and extended family praying for her health and maybe they have helped invoke some very positive changes - something is working on the right way, which is not the usual path of cancer...

So, keep up the prayers and positive thoughts. Flora is a fighter and is planning on being here for her 80th birthday - which is 3 years away, and if all goes well -- she may even see 90.