Oh, Frabjous Day, Calloo, Callay

Well, the rest of the radiology report finally came through and there is news to report. Compared to the scan that was done on February 4 of this year, “The mass involving the anterior rib cage and pleura has significantly decreased in size and currently measures 1 x 3.8 cm decreased from 3.1 x 5.5 cm.” Amid all the medical terminology there is not much of interest beyond the material quoted above except for the final statement which reads, “Impression: Marked improvement in the patient’s known metastatic lesions predominantly involving the right chest wall. Complete resolution of the small right effusion.” The small right effusion was a bit of fluid in the lung and that obviously has disappeared. Good news all in all and I am grateful for it as well as for all the thoughts and prayers that went into this and, I hope, will continue to go on.

The radiology report was good, but the timing here could be improved. The timing involved concerns the infusion. I get four bags of one of the 5-FU and each bag takes 24 hours. Ideally, this works out to 96 hours. Ideally seldom works out. In fact, it looks as though my Monday departure may not come about until Tuesday. The separate bags of the 5-FU get interrupted for fluids and other stuff, such as anti-nausea meds, etc. And sometimes the pharmacy gets backed up; it seems I am not the only patient here.

But overall, the news is good and that is what I am thankful for. Another day in here will not make that much difference in the long run.