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Showing posts from August, 2024

exploring Pittsburgh

I began my quarterly oncology appointments with Dr. Villaruz at UPMC two years ago. They are now becoming more routine and less anxiety-inducing. I slept well the nights before my CT scan and the appointment. At my appointment on Thursday, Dr. Villaruz said my scans still look stable! The small nodules she has been monitoring have not grown. She showed us the scans from August 2022 and now. Then, my lungs looked like they were draped with cobwebs. They were mostly white (on lung scans, black/clear = good and white/cloudy = bad). She said, "Frankly, they looked terrible." Now they are mostly clear, with some scarring and nodules. I can certainly feel this difference in my daily lung function, but the visual contrast was striking evidence of Tagrisso working its magic. One thing I haven't yet described in this blog is a typical CT scan and oncology visit. Before the CT scan at the local hospital, they put in an IV for the contrast (an iodine-based liquid that makes you feel...