After a less than perfect Christmas which passed through New Year’s and into mid January, I was finally starting to get over the flu. There was only a couple of days left before Lennie was leaving and we filled our time with plans to return to Mexico for what we hope will be positive news on the demise of his cancer. Lennie got a final Vitamin C IV and while at NEX Health saw that they were scheduling appointments for Thermal Imaging Scans. These were in their infancy 11 years ago when I had cancer. I remember telling my Oncologist about this new scan that measured heat where there was inflammation and cancer ‘hot spots’. Even he had not heard of this new invention. Now these machines are more common place with women being able to have a safe and painless alternative to mammograms. These thermal images detect cancer long before a mammogram is able to, making them invaluable in the earliest detection of cancer. But not only cancer gives off heat. Any inflammation or even a small cut will emit heat as the body tries to heal the area. Therefore other follow up tests are necessary to see how much of an area is actually tumor and how much is inflammation in surrounding tissues.
You can see the images immediately on a computer monitor, but they must be read by a doctor who specializes in reading these scans, much like a radiologist interpreting a CAT scan or MRI. The difference is that we got the results back the next day. Here are some of the images along with part of the report:
HEAD AND NECK:
Mild hyperthermia noted over the ethmoid sinuses may indicate some mild underlying sinus inflammation.
Myofascial hyperthermia is noted along the posterolateral neck on either side. There are no current findings to indicate current significant TMJ, thyroid or corotid artery dysfunction.
CHEST:
No significant thermal asymmetries are noted and there are no findings that indicate current significant cardiopulmonary dysfunction.
ABDOMEN:
Focal hyperthermia is noted along the mid lower abdomen, immediately inferior to the umbilicus. This suggests focal colonic dysfunction, and may relate to the reported colorectal cancer. Clinical correlation is needed. No focal thermal findings or asymmetries are currently noted along the right upper portion of the abdomen to directly correlate with the reported liver cyst.
There were other areas that were noted such as the corner of his mouth which was reported that it could be oral or dental inflammation. A large area of heat was shown on his shoulder where he had surgery years ago for a dislocated shoulder and torn rotator cuff (a story of men in their youth thinking they are invincible). The really great news is that no areas where metastasized cancer was found were evident any more. That seems to have been eradicated. A doctor who saw the report said that it was a lot better than she thought it would be. We were happy with that. Now we will do more work on the main tumor. There is still no word on his CEA blood test result which he paid for and was done in Canada, now over 2 weeks ago.
*note: Thermal Imaging is not in itself diagnostic of pathology. It seeks out heat which can be from many causes of inflammation.
The day after the report Lennie was leaving for Florida to spend a week with his daughter who is expecting her first baby in about 5 weeks now. Knowing that the air on planes can be a breeding ground of infections I loaded him up with antioxidants and probiotics and supplements of all kinds. We planned to leave at noon for the airport, getting Len there an hour and a half before take off. Plenty of time. At 10 minutes past 12 I was in the bathroom putting on some make-up when Lennie came rushing in, his wide eyes even wider with shock and gripping his trousers. “Oh No!” was the only phrase that he kept uttering. He tore loose his belt and let his pants drop. It was too late. Diarrhea was everywhere. In his shorts, his trousers, down his legs, on the floor. He was a bit scared too. Was the tumor getting larger? Why was this happening? “It’s my fault.” I said. I gave you too many probiotics and and antioxidants. Something struck us funny as we both sat there in the bathroom. The awful mess. The fact that we were now very pressed for time. The horrific thoughts of ‘What if it happened at the airport… or on the plane.’ Lennie imagined himself sitting next to a little old lady or tearing off his seat belt and bolting for the lavatory while the plane was taking off. We laughed, and laughed till we had tears running down our cheeks. Cleaned up and dressed in fresh clothes we were finally in the car. It was 12:45. His plane was leaving at 2:20, that meant he had to be checked in by 1:20. We had 35 minutes to get to Pearson International. Lennie looked at me and said, “Oh baby, you have to shave some time off.” Thank goodness for the 407 ETR. Still we got to the airport at 1:25. I told him to run in and shove his passport into the machine – never mind the luggage, I’ll bring it in. Well you know you can’t leave your car when you are dropping someone off. So Chaucer sat on the armrest next to the driver’s seat. From inside I saw the security guard come over to the car and stare at Chaucer, then scratch his head, looking around. I came running out appologizing every way that I could. He just shook his head and said, “Don’t do it again.”
Lennie’s plane was delayed due to the whether and he had to wait for almost 2 hours to take off. His 8 P.M. arrival became 11 P.M.
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Tomorrow evening Lennie lands back in Tijuana, Mexico where he will be checked over and assessed by Dr Alvarez. He will get a CEA upon arrival and the test results will come back the next day and probably another MRI to compare with the last one, done in October. He will have some more therapy with Laetrile, Mistletoe, DMSO and other treatments. I will join him in less than a week and life will once again be good because we are together.
dysfunction.