This morning I had my first check-up CT and follow-up visit with Dr. Specht. I had grunted, so I was in much better shape than yesterday, and I felt that I could definitely hold my breath more easily in the exam than I could a month ago. I didn't feel at all like coughing when the mechanical voice said "breathe in, hold your breath," although I recognize that the days of 2 minutes and 20 seconds of breath holding are behind—and before—me at the moment. I didn't have to have any contrast at all, so no sticking me anywhere (my veins are still a phlebotomist's dream today, but I'll take what I can get).
That said, the CT did not show any significant improvement. It didn't show anything worse than before, and I am tolerating my treatments very well, and when Dr. Specht listened to my lungs, she was pleased with how clear they sounded while they worked through their issues. Also, my vitals have slowly been getting better, at least from what I can tell—my blood pressure is back down to close to 100/60 and my pulse rate was 80 this morning instead of 107, and, as I've said this week, I walked 10 blocks one afternoon, and it was easier to hold my breath for the test. Basically, I feel, and Dr. Specht feels as well, that things are on the right track, and we will know a lot more in another 3 weeks or a month when I see her again. A dramatic improvement would've been a nice sight after basically three chemos (yesterday's can't count much for anything appearing in a scan today), but having my body perform so well and take maybe a bit longer is probably even a better sight.
And I had a nap for two hours this afternoon, which was glorious. I'm happy.
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