...............Malcolm...................: February 2012

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A great Valentine's Day gift

Yesterday afternoon, Malcolm's endocrinologist gave us good news. He told us that there were no new tumours and that Malcolm's liver numbers, which were three or four times normal before his surgery, are in the normal range.

Different tests coming up in May, but this is certainly a good beginning to 2012.

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About Malcolm

Malcolm had surgery on September 27, 2010 for neuroendocrine cancer (neuroendocrine tumours = "NETs") on his appendix and liver.

NETs are different from what people usually think of as cancer. They grow very slowly, so some people never know they have them.

Aside from the usual behaviours of cancer, one of the worries about NETs is that they can secrete hormones that attack other parts of the endocrine system, heart and lungs. We now know that Malcolm's were definitely producing excessive levels of serotonin, but we don't believe any long-term damage was done.

NETs can be extremely serious, but they can also be just another chronic thing. We can't guarantee it, but our feeling at this stage is that Malcolm will be okay as long as we keep monitoring and testing.