The treatment is progressing according to plan. There are no new symptoms or pain or special effects at this stage. This is good - because it also indicate no complication.
There are 2 possible route the body could take in respond to this treatment at this stage: 1. The tumor is now inflamed. The tumor cells are dying. It starts to shrink. There will be increase activities, metabolism and the Immune system is in high gear. or 2. The tumor does not respond. It continues to grow in its maligned form. More cancer tumor may appear, if the body condition is weak.
How do we know? One mainstream doctors treating cancer told me up front that "we don't monitor the tumor so closely. When a patient goes through the Chemotherapy. We only check on the progress of the tumor only after 2 to 3 months later. If it shrink, good! we continue with chemo. If it does not shrink, or spread or increase in size, we may change different chemo or take more 'direct action' to remove the affected areas"
For Mom, we will do another Doppler Ultrasound (3D) scan in 4 weeks time. The doctors in Singapore did not want us to do Doppler. They strongly discourage us telling us that it is useless wastage of money. "It does not tell them anything more" they said. They were very convincing. Hmm.. I should NOT have listen to them. Because, it may not tell them anything they are looking for (size and spread). But there are other information (eg. increase metabolism, blood vessel feeding the tumor etc) that they don't interpret at all.
Anyway, the doppler scan would tell us the progress of the tumor. At the end of Oct (3 months after the first Petscan, its likely that we might do another petscan - this should give us an comparison with the first petscan.
BTW: Mom got 2 extra-days of NGPDT treatment added to her schedule. Just wanted to be extra sure we kill those @#!@*&^% cells!
Moral of the story: Listen to advise to doctors (they are good people). Do your own fact findings. BUT MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONs. Ask them for the choices (they have to tell you all the options) and AND YOU HAVE TO DIRECT the doctor to do what you want - after all its YOUR MONEY! But don't give them medical advise or disagree with them because it's their profession. But the final choice of the path you make, is your decision - not theirs. They DO NOT bear the consequence of the outcome of the patients (professionally). They are ALL INDEMNIFIED against good or bad outcome from the treatment process, as long as they do not mis-practice or mis-inform. This is just my personal experience and opinion.