Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog

Acronyms...they're everywhere.  In the cancer world, there are tons of them.  Here are a few I use on a regular basis:  CBC, IV, CT, PO, NPO, NSCLC, IR, CA19-9, CEA, EGFR, ALK, ROS1, cMET, AHCC...the list goes on and on. I recently learned of NED.  I searched it, read about it, and long for it.  N o E vidence of D isease.   At my most recent appointment I asked my oncologist about NED.  I was sadly told that I will never get there. Darn. NED really means NO evidence of disease and even if my lung tumor and tumors in my liver shrink away, the mets to my bones will always show up on imaging studies such as X-rays and CT scans.  I understand that once there are bone changes, even if there isn't any active cancer, the lesions in the bones are there forever.   My oncologist, a very kind young man, gently reminded me that my disease is stable...not gone.  I had to remind myself that I've always been told that there is no cure for me....

For the last few years, I have been on a low dose blood pressure lowering medication.  My dad had high blood pressure, so I wasn't surprised when I, too, was diagnosed.  Monitoring blood pressure is simple.  Whenever I think about it, I use the home BP monitoring device I bought at Walgreens which precisely measures my BP and heart rate. I write down the results on a table my internist gave me and once a year, he looks at it and makes dosing adjustments, if necessary.  Unlike BP medications, it's not possible to know if chemotherapeutic agents are working without periodic imaging studies, such as CT scans, which can't be done at home. I go to the hospital and from the time I check-in until I walk out, it's a 2-hour appointment.  I start getting nervous a few days before the tests until I hear the results. The way it works is that we cancer patients dutifully get chemotherapy, either by IV infusion or, as in my case, orally for several weeks or a few months. ...