Posts tagged: abdomin - Todd's Journey

Abdominal CT cancer scan

March 23, 2024 - Posted in The Journey by Todd with comments

Hello all,

The abdominal CT scan was released today. The scan showed no signs of cancer recurrence, or abnormalities in any of the abdominal organs.

This, along with the previously released chest scan pretty much indicate I am practically cancer free at this time. Overall great news, but it's still got a ways to go.

Scanning will continue for the next several years, with changes in the timing of the scans based on progress. Right now they will continue with every 3 months. May move to six months at one point, then possibly annually.

Given the good news on the cancer front, there are just a few leftover health issues we are actively dealing with.

My leg issue is one. This will take some time, and can only really get better once I can gain better pain management. They have asked me to go in for an X-ray on my hip and that general area to see if anything is going on around there.

My creatinine (which partly measures the efficacy and efficiency of my kidney function) continues to go down indicating my kidneys are getting better and healing. I am almost where I need to be with my kidney function.

The final issue is the ureteral stents. Dr. Morash had put them in in order to allow me an opportunity to lose the nephrostomy tubes. The stents gave me a much better quality of life, with the exception of the frequent urination is often results in. Now that the scans have come back so positively, and the ultra sound showed my kidneys, ureters and bladder were functionning normally (filling and emptying), he may decide to take the stents out all together and just let my natural functions take over.

I am realistic however. There are always small (sometimes not so small) issues that will crop up as I continue my cancer journey. But getting to this point has been miraculous for me.

And again, I have all of you, Dr. Morash, Dr. Beltran, Dr. Reaume, Dr. Seguin and their colleagues and Residents to thank.

Pelvic and Abdominal Ultra Sound results

February 26, 2024 - Posted in The Journey by Todd with comments

This morning I went for a scheduled ultrasound as part of the Oncologists investigation into the rise in my creatinine levels.

One of the possible reasons for the rise in creatinine is diminished kidney function due to obstructions in my ureters blocking the flow of urine from my kidney into my bladder. Or my bladder is not draining/emptying fully.

The ultrasound will be able to show how all that is functionning.

The results showed that my bladder was full when I started, and after having gone to the washroom, it was almost completely empty. This means my bladder is functionning properly and draining fully.

The results also showed that my kidneys were normal size, and not inflammed meaning there is no back up of fluid into the kidney.

No other abnormalities were seen or detected during this scan.

This result will help confirm that my creatinine leves are rising most likely due to the immunotherapy itself, which they are now trying to stop by putting me on steroid treatment.

Not out of the woods yet, until my creatinine gets back to normal, but definitely progress being made.

Another rough few days

January 21, 2024 - Posted in The Journey by Todd with comments

Well, it's been almost 6 months since Jamie and I have had to go to Emergency on a weekend (or day for that matter) but that streak came to a halt on Saturday. I appear to have been having another reaction to my immunotherapy session on Friday. All afternoon Friday, I was feeling cold, fatigued and had abdominal pain. I had no appetite, and was fairly nauseous.

This continued through the night. Saturday morning I woke up with more intense symptoms, plus I had a fever. We went to Emergency shortly after lunch where they put me on strong antibiotics as a precaution, and ran a whole slew of tests. Most of my bloodwork came back fairly normal, and they ruled out septis.

The ER doctors contacted Oncology at the Ottawa General Hospital who reviewed the symptoms and blood work and concluded that I was having a reaction to the last immunotherapy session.

He explained that the immunotherapy can mimik an infection, and even cause a fever. All of my symptoms were signs of an infection, so it was imperative of me to go into ER. Once they had determined it was a reaction, they gave me some steroids to take for a few days, which made me feel much better.

I am pretty much back to normal today, but our streak of staying out of ER on the weekends finally came to an end.