Chest X-Rays and the Oral Chemo Choice

Hudson and I went to AHSC last night to get chest X-rays and a CBC.  It was very snowy, so it ended up taking us 1/2 an hour to get from our house to the office, which is normally a 10 minute drive.  Hudson was quite comfortable since he was wearing the coat his foster mom from RMGDRI made him over five years ago.

As usual, since I'm a worrier, I was stressed about the x-rays.  My stomach was in a knot all day.  I'm sure Hudson was feeling my concern, since he promptly peed on the floor at the Oncologist's upon our arrival.  He'd gone potty before we left home, so it's very likely it was a response to my stress. I try to maintain calm around him, but failed miserably this time.  (Then I start to worry that my worrying upsets him. It's a never ending cycle.)

If you will recall, at Hudson's initial time of diagnosis in June, he had zero visible tumors in his lungs on the first set of x-rays.  The 2nd set taken three months later in September, showed 7 tumors had grown in his lungs ranging in size from 0.5cm to 2.5cm.  The 3rd set, taken a month later, showed that 6 of his tumors had shrunk by 25-50% and that the biggest had disappeared all together from the x-ray.  Fast forward two months, to the chest x-rays taken yesterday.

The six remaining tumors have all decreased in mass.  Five are visibly gone (but likely not microscopically) and one was reduced by 75%.  Unfortunately, a new one has shown up.  It is approximately 4 cm (try looking at that on a ruler.  It almost stopped my heart.)  Fortunately, it's not in a bad location in the lungs and Hudson remains asymptomatic.  Our hope is that the new metronomic oral chemo protocol will either help to reduce the size, or at the least, prevent it from growing larger.

Our chemo meds are in the mail and will be taken daily.  (Previously, I had said that it would be every other day for the Metronomic Protocol, but recent findings show that daily meds are best.)  The most common side effect (30% likelihood) is bladder irritation, so we have to be certain to provide plenty of fresh, clean water.  We will also need to pay attention to how frequently he is urinating, as well as whether there is any blood in his urine.