Back again
I've been checking on my friends every once in a while and decided to look at my journal and was astounded to see that it's been a year since I wrote last. I had my CT and 2 MRI's 2 days ago (Wednesday) and the radiologist sent the results right over to my Dr. near the hospital as I have to rely upon volunteers to drive me and can't make 2 trips to see him. I was so glad to hear that everything is stable- no growth. Since I wrote last we thought that the cancer had metastasized to my liver. I just knew this was the "beginning of the end". My Oncologist is also a Hematologist and he ordered some different blood work that I normally have. Long story short - I don't have liver cancer. What is showing is called Hemochromatosis, a disease of the liver concerning excessive iron deposits in my liver. He then had my blood genetically screened. It showed that I got it from both my Mother and Father. It never bothered them that I recall. Dad lived until 91 and Mom until 65. That means that my deceased Brother and Sister also had it. It has to be watched carefully and I have to avoid foods with high iron content. I had my daughter checked and she has it. She got hers from me, not her Father. Now my Grandson has to be checked as there is a 50/50 chance of him having it. Treatment is donations of blood to get the iron levels down into a normal range. (The blood is of course disposed of). Like the old "bloodletting" procedure . It has to be repeated periodically. I am unable to be treated as you must have a good immune system to endure the treatment and I, like most of you, have a compromised immune system. It will be watched closely, however. I am on my chemo, Sutent, sporadically. When my numbers start to drop again I have to stop it and wait for the numbers to go up. It's almost like a game, but a very scary one. I pray daily for everyone on this site. This Cancer is such a horrific disease and more and more people are getting it. I blame it on the environment in general - the air we breathe, the food we eat, chemicals in everything. I have started buying more and more organic foods at the store and find myself reading labels constantly. May 2016 bring us all better health, good support from loved ones, and reaching any goals we may set for ourselves. God Bless. Andrea
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