Houston, we have a problem (surgery cancelled)

Well, we did get a call from the surgeon regarding the PET scan results. The purpose of the PET scan was to confirm that the cancer had not spread and that it was confined to the original area in her cheek. The results of the PET scan were disheartening. The test showed "hot spots" in other areas of Robin's body such as her "liver, skeletal structure and a few other spots".

To treat many areas at once involves additional chemo for Robin. If they were to perform the facial surgery it would delay the application of new chemo. It also wouldn't make sense to put Robin through the trauma of surgery while letting cancer go unattended in other areas of her body, so Robin's surgery has been cancelled.

It's obvious that the first four courses of chemo did not halt the progression, so we expect a new regime of chemo drugs to be recommended. We now have an appointment in New York City on Tuesday, and an appointment with a hometown oncologist on Friday. I expect chemo would commence the following week, December 11th.

The treatment is expected to be chemo, but no radiation at this time. So it will be possible for Robin to receive the chemo treatment in her hometown, rather than in the city. Way back in August we were told that this was the standard type of care, i.e. if the treatment involved chemo without radiation it was typically administered in the patient's hometown.

I asked the New York oncologist if this treatment would be considered "palliative care" - meaning that they could only slow down the cancer and he said "No, he didn't think so at this time". I asked if her odds were less than 5%and he said "no, he thought they were better than that".

We have received feedback from several clinical folks who work (or have worked in oncology). They say that although the news is disheartening, they have seen patients recover from setbacks such as this, so keep up the fight. I asked Robin what she wanted to do and she said "I want to beat this %^&$" - so I've received my marching orders and we're moving forward!

Thank you all for your continued support! The many e-mails, reminders and prayers help immensly to us get through the days!