Loose Strife

Laura thinks that a move to chemo is inevitable at this point. I agree that we seem to have both come around to it. Just the same, we’ll be in touch with our “2nd opinion” oncologist in Boston hopefully tomorrow before making the next move.
We thought that hormone therapy hadn’t been given enough time. But the argument in favor of changing treatment is that typically slow growing cancer cells are noticeably progressing over a relatively short period of time. While there’s no change in the cancer in her bones in her upper body, the radiologist reports that there was “definitely progression” of “extensive” metastases in her pelvic area. Maybe more importantly, the fluid in her chest is now so significant that she can’t lie down in bed and breathe properly (Laura sleeps in a recliner). When we went back to see her oncologist again this afternoon, she described the difference from two months ago as “striking”. (I can’t explain why this seems to conflict with several xrays taken during the last month that I wrote about previously, but the CT scan is taken as the better test.) This fluid isn’t itself threatening because it can be easily drained with a needle. But it undeniably indicates progression. Her oncologist argued that the issue isn’t whether you call it a small or big progression, which is maybe debatable. It’s simply an issue of whether the current treatment is working sufficiently, which it appears not to be.
So barring any contrary opinions from the 2nd doc, moving to chemo seems to be prudent.