14 Dec - CAT Results

Sarah got her CAT scan and tumor marker results back today. There were no big surprises, but unfortunately they did confirm that she'll most likely need to go back on chemotherapy after the pituitary surgery in January. The lymph nodes at the left side of her neck as well as some abdominal ones are definitely enlarged with tumors and there seems to be some suspicious areas in her actual Pancreas which need to be further evaluated. Her CEA and CA27.29 markers are up to 50 and 177 respectively -- significantly up from the last reading, which is kind of what we expected given that she can feel the nodes on her neck getting slowly larger.
So the plan is to consult a breast cancer specialist at University of Chicago (recommended by her onc), get the pituitary surgery and then start back on systemic treatment right away. Somewhere in there she'll also get a pancreatic duct ultrasound and biopsy to get more information about what is going on there.
Sarah still feels pretty good overall and is back to eating what she wants, but the anxiety over the surgery and what's next after that is starting to loom for both of us. Is the pituitary mass a met or a benign growth? Is there a met in her pancreas? Can chemo shrink her lymph nodes back down? We're staring at a lot of question marks as we think about the coming new year... and the answers may only cause even more worry. At times like this we're especially thankful for all the well wishes, prayers and help from friends and family - thank you and keep the prayers coming! Strength, peace, hope.

5 Dec - Plans Firming Up

We saw Sarah's neurosurgeon as well as her oncologist this week and both agree that it's time to do the surgery to remove the pituitary mass. So, we're working on scheduling the brain surgery for Sarah. It looks like it will likely be in early January since that is when an OR will be available and two doctors' schedules overlap (an ENT and a neurosurgeon do this surgery together since an endoscope is used to access the pituitary via the nasal cavity). After this, we'll know through biopsy what the mass really is, but we'll also have to see what pituitary function remains (or is restored).
Sarah is still feeling quite a bit better now that her body chemistry is closer to normal with the help of her new daily endo tablets. She's eating food she likes and also more energetic overall.