CT images

Here are 4 images of Dan's abdomen. 2 are pre-chemo, the lymph nodes are green. 2 are post-chemo, the shrunken lymph nodes are yellow, calcified one is purple. As you can see there is a dramatic reduction in the size of the lymph nodes which is great! Ideally they would be all gone but this is pretty good as well. The ones that are remaining are one of three things: Active cancer that is just shrunk, residual lymph nodes that have yet to be reabsorbed by the body but will in time, or scar tissue that will present as an abnormality for years to come.

You should be able to click on all these images to make them bigger.

Pre-Chemo CT Scan












Post Chemo CT Scan

We also reviewed the results of the PET Scan. The scan was further good news, as it was basically negative for any cancer activity. There was only a very small flash of activity seen on a couple slices of the scan.

So if we put all this information together, its looking like observation and not surgery will be the route we take. Repeat CTScans every 3months for a year. See if the area shrinks (being reabsorbed), stays the same (scar tissue) or grows (cancer).

We still are pending our referral approval to go to Indiana University. All our doctors here are hopeful that we can go observation route but they all say that if IU thinks surgery is whats needed than we have to do it. We have a 1/3 chance that its active cancer and if IU thinks the risk is too much we can go and take it out, but like I said before the surgery is not a minor one so hopefully it wont come to that.