Yesterday's post offered no concrete information to those wondering about Sue's present physical/medical condition. Let us fill that information gap now.

After leaving Victoria we drove to Adelaide to celebrate Trevor Bateman's (Geoff's Dad) 80th Birthday. What an enjoyable, precious and life-honoring family time it was.

Despite, or perhaps because of, 4 weeks away and lots of travel by air and road, Sue is feeling well. The ever-present tiredness remains, and there are the odd niggling annoyances of aberrant body-functions of one sort or another, but otherwise she is in pretty good shape and of good spirit. 

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A day or two after returning to Darwin Sue had yet another CT Scan and blood test, and a few days later a visit to the oncologist. Ever hopeful of a little more certainty upon which to frame our future planning, we were once again left unfulfilled!! Ah the life of those who have feet planted firmly in mid-air!

The CT Scan showed no obvious new cancer sites but did indicate that the liver lesion(s) have increased in size. Interestingly there were interpretive reports from two doctors who both agreed that there was a notable size increase but scaled it differently. Applying a coarse mathematical averaging to their opinions, one could say that the primary lesion has doubled in size in the last 3 months. In case you have horror movie visions of 'The Blob' or some other rampant city consuming growth, understand that even at 'double size' the lesion is still only perhaps 10mm x 20mm and is barely palpable (able to be felt) by the oncologist on external examination. Ironically, the blood tests showed improved liver function!

In light of this, the oncologist put the possibility of surgery on the liver back on the table for consideration. This is a more intricate and 'serious' operation that cannot be done in Darwin. This possibility only makes sense for consideration if there is no other current cancer activity evident in the body. The best way of determining  this with more accuracy/certainty is (another) PET Scan.

So..... we are off to Adelaide again tomorrow (Sunday) ahead of a PET Scan on Tuesday and return home Wednesday. Ahh the life of the frequent flyer!! We decided to treat this as a bit of a 'mini-break' and stay in a hotel in the Adelaide CBD instead of with family this time.

Depending on the outcome of the PET Scan, when we go back to the oncologist on 28th October, he intends to recommend between two options:

  • Immediate liver resection surgery, recovery, then chemotherapy
  • Immediate chemotherapy

Both of these require a sacrifice of current well-being in the hope of future benefit (basically 'a longer life').

We believe that there is a third option to add to the mix:

  • Enjoy the period of 'wellness' while it lasts and reconsider the other options when this 'wellness' is already compromised.

Obviously we are not wedded to any position and will engage with the specific question after the PET Scan results. Up to now we have had a shared sense of the best way forward for us at each decision point, so are expectant that this will continue with the impending decisions too.

Life is good!