Tennis Balls

Every six months, I have a full body scan to see if there’s been any recurrence of my cancer. Normally it’s a CT, but at the beginning of October, I had a PET, which shows metabolic activity. It came back clearly showing an area of non-uniform metabolic activity in my liver, about 5cm across. A further MRI six weeks after confirmed that there’s a single, well-defined lump, which is now about 6cm across – about the size of a tennis ball. That’s a 20% increase in six weeks. And I am beginning to have a vague awareness of its presence.

This rapid growth is somewhat surprising, as previous occurrences have been very slow. The largest of my lung metastases, for example (an image of which now graces the “CT” page on Wikipedia) was about 1cm across after several years. So there is at least some possibility this is something else entirely. But the primary hypothesis is a recurrence, so next stop is a liver specialist, and then almost certainly an operation. More scars for the collection :-)

I haven’t yet managed to get CDs of the scans, but when I do, I’ll put up some pictures.

“O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.” — Jeremiah 32:18b-19a

8 thoughts on “Tennis Balls

  1. With sincere respect for the way you keep some sense of humor here, let me express my best wishes for the harsh period you are foreseeing.
    Take care

  2. Have followed you on mozillazine for a good few years now. Sad news. Get it sorted soon and keep doing your best for the web.

  3. Sorry to hear this brosef. The wife and I will be praying for you. Please keep everyone updated.