The Cheemo Consult.

Today I met with my oncologist. We are going to proceed with chemotherapy.

He was pretty impressed with how well I've recovered so far! I rock!

SO... now to the nitty gritty.

The bile duct was the originator of the tumor on my liver. They took that all out with the portion of liver and the gall bladder as well as the lymph node.

The chemo that I will be taking is GEMZAR (gemcitabine). It's a 30 minute infusion through IV once a week. That happens for 3 weeks and then I get a week off. During this time, we'll be monitoring platelet levels and white blood cell counts. If I get too out of whack, then I take that week off and do the next one. This will go on for 6 months.

No guarantee on hair loss... but overall this drug offers pretty mild side effects.

In addition, I'll be going back to Stanford every 3 months for blood work and CT scans. That goes on for about a year (though my oncologist indicated that the CTs would go on for 5 years, but decreasing in frequency). If I make 5 years without any other signs, the we mark me as done!