I arrived at the infusion center feeling good. Well, I was a little annoyed that my once-reliable coffee thermos apparently no longer holds a seal and now I am sitting in cold, damp pants while I wait for my lounge chair. But overall, again, my complaints are few.

Later, I will be sitting with the oncologist to go over my progress. But first, it is time to relax with a few drips. And I only mean that politely.

The only hitch thus far…for some unexplained reason, my vein of choice (not my choice, for what it matters) didn’t cooperate. After working around and readjusting several times, we simply agreed to switch from my right hand to my left arm (which, incidentally, is my usual choice). But, all things considered…

After the infusion, I met with the good doctor to go over the changes in my scans. The first (which appears on the right side of the picture here, with the left lung represented on the right side as we are looking upward from my feet toward my head in the first cross section) shows that the primary tumor has decreased significantly, granting me the current designation of “partial remission” after three rounds. I’ll take whatever level of remission I can get at this point, happily. Remember, this is just a two dimensional representation of approximately the same cross section of the tumor, but for a full sense of the change in size it must be considered in terms of total volume and not just the dimensions of one side view.

The next image (left lung still reflected on the right side of the screen as though we we’re facing one another) shows the improvement in my lung capacity. My doctor posited that the smaller lung volume and raised diaphragm may have been caused by the larger tumor causing partial collapse at the top of the lung. This would have caused the lower lung to be pulled upward (much like a pinched balloon, I imagine). Now that the tumor has shrunk and scarring appears to be abating, the lung is able to relax into a lower position and fill better with air.

While this ought to translate to increased energy, which it had initially done, the downside to chemotherapy is that it does make me progressively more tired. While I am expecting to have an easier time on my “down days” this week, continuing the trend of the past sessions, I also have come to realize that the tiredness is cumulative.

The CT scans here do not show much of what is going on inside the bones, which is a bit harder to measure anyway, but we did find a way to look at some lymph node action. There was a spot on my wind pipe that had been bent by the pressure of an inflamed lymph node, which I believe may have been the one biopsied in November. The current image showed that the wind pipe was no longer bent by the pressure, indicating that the cancer there had significantly abated. Granted, that may have been helped through the removal of some tissue a few months ago, but presumably it could also have grown back and we must assume that, since the treatment did not start for about two months after the initial CT scans, the initial tumor and other growths would have been larger once the treatment actually began.

All told, this was a good day for me, with good information and positive reinforcement.

We also had a good chat about the evils of those people trumping up conspiracies by Big Pharma to conspire to keep actual cures (which would be more profitable) away from the patients who need them — and then using those conspiracy theories as ammunition to sell dangerous alternative therapies to desperate and uninformed people. I can clearly state that if I had followed the “advice” that appears most prevalently on the Internet, rather than sticking with my reason and logic to inform my decisions, I would not be in the fortunate position in which I currently find myself. For that, I have a very dedicated team to thank, and I am grateful to them all.

Even if not every needle can find its home on the first attempt. Once in a while you just have to stick it a few times and keep sticking with it until it sticks.