July 16, 2024

See that smile? That smile is one of gratitude and relief.

Yesterday, mom had an MRI and pet scan done to see if the treatments were working.  I think we were all concerned that they weren't as she had to have stents placed in her ureters last month.  The concern was that the tumor was growing and invading the ureters.  The doctor also told us in June that if the cancer had proceeded to grow and progress throughout the treatments, they would NOT do the surgery to remove her bladder.  The surgery will only be done if it will cure her.

However, the scans showed the tumor is shrinking!  In February, it measured 2 cm in thickness, and yesterday showed it is only .9 cm in thickness.

The Pet scan also showed an enlarged lymph node in her chest wall, but the oncologist is not overly concerned about that.  However, they are going to biopsy it just to be sure.  They are also going to do some new biopsies of the insider of her bladder before next steps are determined.

However, hearing the tumor had shrank was cause for celebration - so mom had had her first margarita in months!