Author: mattkassoff

Well, here I am in, a place I didn't think I'd get be. I just spoke with the surgeon a little while ago to go over the results of Friday's PET scan and yesterday's colonoscopy. Everything was pretty much what we thought before, but now is confirmed. The chemo worked great on reducing my cancer … Continue reading Surgery Gets the Green Light

"Pleasant 41-year-old Male Presents For Opinion Regarding Colon Cancer" - Philip Neff, MD Today, I met with a surgeon to discuss my options for surgery in regards to my colon cancer, hence the wonderful quote above from the surgeon's medical notes. Seemingly good news - after that consult and then another visit with my oncologist … Continue reading Pleasant 41-year-old Male Presents For Opinion Regarding Colon Cancer

All chemo and no play makes Matt a dull boy. All chemo and no play makes Matt a dull boy. All chemo and no play makes Matt a dull boy. All chemo and no play makes Matt a dull boy. All chemo and no play makes Matt a dull boy. All chemo and no play … Continue reading Chemo: Round 9 – All Chemo and No Play Makes Matt a Dull Boy

Well, it's been a long week. I had my CT scan on Wednesday, a dye study on my port Thursday(it's fine) and a meeting with my oncologist today. Good news, my cancer continues to respond to the chemo. In fact, it reduced to a size that my oncologist want me to have a consult with … Continue reading Stay the Course

Tuesday was the last scheduled full round of my originally prescribed 8 rounds of FOLFOXIRI. As always, I'm here to remind you that chemo sucks. As for what's next, we still don't have a firm path or next step yet. This will all be more clear after my next CT scan on 10/21. I then … Continue reading Chemo: Round 8 – What now?

Yesterday was round 7 of chemo. There's really not much of an update - it still sucks and I feel like shit. We met with my oncologist beforehand and there wasn't much news there either. My CEA (cancer protein) numbers continued to drop - down to 65.8 ng/mL. We discussed what this means. What it … Continue reading Chemo: Round 7 – Back to Reality

Here I am, sitting through round 6 of chemo. Spoiler alert - it still sucks. We met this morning before the infusions with one of the PA's here. There wasn't a ton to go over - all my labs are still looking good. One set of numbers did stand out though. My CEA(cancer proteins) numbers … Continue reading Chemo: Round 6 – Good News?

Well, believe it or not, chemo still sucks. We met with my oncologist yesterday before my infusions to check in again on my recent CT scan. There wasn't really too much new stuff to go over - just a few details of how we might proceed after the 8th round of chemo. It's sounding like … Continue reading Chemo: Round 5 – Little bit harder, just a little bit more, a little bit further than you gone before

I received the call from my oncologist this morning to go over the CT scan I had yesterday. Before I go on and explain what we discussed and what he sees, I want to revisit where we're at with my treatment and what my fight against cancer is and means. I have inoperable cancer. That … Continue reading Some Good News Amidst a Bad Reality

Well, here I am, sitting through my fourth round of infusions. Halfway through my originally planned 8 chemo sessions. I have a CT scan scheduled next week, on 8/26 and my oncologist is supposed to call me on 8/27 to go over the results. We'll see which of these 3 things is happening: My cancer … Continue reading Chemo: Round 4 – Woah, we’re half way there… Woah, livin’ on a prayer