Update from Stanford

I am posting an email sent out by mom which does well to explain the results of her visit to Stanford. She came home very happy. I added to her good news with a little of my own with my announcement of being promoted to Fire Engineer at work.

"Hello All,
My trip to Stanford was a success by cancer standards. The cancer cells remain the same, which is good. It has not advanced. My CA 19-9, which is a marker, in the form of a blood test, is in the 90 range. Considering it was 248 in July, this is good. Abnormal is anything above 37. They are keeping me on Chemo since I seem to be responding well. Tell my tired body that.

I also have what they think is an ulcer. (my self diagnosis which they, my oncologist and the Dr. at Stanford, seem to agree.) Six months following radiation is the most likely time an ulcer will show it's nasty head. I will be having an Endoscopy as soon as it can be scheduled. If it is an ulcer, they say the discomfort will last for about 6 months and it will heal itself.

I will keep you all informed.

Lots of Love,
Lorraine"

New Tests and Update

Mom recently had a check up with a PET scan and MRI. The update was that nothing has changed since her last update. There is still no metastasis, however the tumor has not diminished any further. For now she will stop the chemo. Tomorrow she has an appointment at Stanford for another checkup with them. After that we will know more. It is sounding like we might be looking into clinical trials from here on. For now that is about all the news there is. I will update more when the time comes.