My tumor markers continued to climb, and the CT scan confirmed what we feared, the tumor seems to be back and growing. Fortunately, it seems to be growing slowly, which gives us time to decide the best plan of action.
We heard back from Dr. Sugarbaker (the doctor who operated on in Feb and July 04) and he is suggesting we just wait and see what happens, and to continue with the normal routine of tumor marker tests and CT scans. I don't feel very comfortable with just waiting though. In the meantime, we are contacting some other PMP specialists to get some more opinions. The trick is, we have to travel to see these other doctors. Two are in Baltimore, and unfortunately see patients on different days. The other specialist is in Omaha, NE. We haven't made any appointments yet, but when we do, I'll post again with more info.
And now some good news. Last month we got our new lease for our apartment, and they wanted to raise the rent almost 17%. That was way too much, especially for the small 1 bedroom apartment we have. After looking around, we have discovered that we can no longer really afford to live in Manhattan, so we found a new apartment in Riverdale (which is part of The Bronx). Although we are moving out of "the City", we will still officially be in New York as The Bronx is one of the boroughs of NYC. The rest of the good news, our new apartment is much bigger than our current apt. We will have two bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Besides closets in both bedrooms, there are three other closets (1 linen closet and two other large closets). This means we will have much more space and will finally be able to put everything away, and all of this will cost us about $200 less than what we are paying right now. And the bonus is, we'll have a balcony. That is one thing I am really looking forward to.
So right now, we are in packing and moving mode. Once we get settled in the new place, we will have to get in "meeting with doctors" mode. Something I'm not especially looking forward to.
Needless to say, both Roni and I were disappointed to hear the news about the recurrence, especially as I had been doing so well, and had made it to the 4 year mark of being diagnosed. But we have gone through this before and know what to expect, which is one reason I'm not looking forward to it. :-) I don't relish the thought of more chemo and another surgery at all. But I've done it before, and will do it again if need be.
We have been praying for a miracle, and we cherish all of your prayers as well. Sorry again for not posting sooner, but aside from moving, I've been trying to ignore anything to do with cancer. As we say, never underestimate the power of denial. :-)
Kevin
