Status Report as of May, 2011
This is just my personal experience. So, your uniqueness will determine how you respond. I thought it might be helpful to let you know how I've been doing since the PRRT.
1. I lived with a lot of dark urine and itching (symptoms of bile duct blockage) from the July, 2009 PRRT until December, 2009. Then I started Sandostatin LAR (40 mg/28d). That took care of the itching, but the darker than normal urine that was also present required a common bile duct stent placement in January, 2010. I have chosen to use plastic stents, replaced about every three months since then.
2. After the last of the two PRRT's, the CT scans were nearly unreadable for about six months because of treatment influenced inflammation. When the pancreas tumor was eventually evaluated, the center exhibited necrosis, but the outer rim was still inflamed and tumor had not displayed much if any shrinkage. Shrinkage is still slow to occur.
3. The pancreas tumor and liver lesions are stable as of January, 2011.
4. Blood counts have been a little below normal since the July, 2009 PRRT. I now understand it can take up to two years for the bone marrow to recover from PRRT. This is just my reaction, and should not be assumed to be your response. I have about 3 months to go before I have to admit to having chronically low blood counts.
5. Creatinine levels have been climbing since May, 2010. I have no explanation for this as yet. The prep fluids for nearly 20 years of colonoscopies (family history of colon cancer). IV contrast fluids for bi-yearly CT scans since diagnosis 5 years ago, 20 years of using thiozide (HCTZ) for blood pressure control, and possibly the PRRT are all influencing factors for the doctors to ponder.
Overall, I would say the PRRT has been a positive experience in the treatment of my disease. It bought time for other treatment methods to become FDA approved and available, and to stay at the dance a little longer.
Note: Dr. Jan Müller has recently retired as the Department of Nuclear Medicine Head. The new Department Head is Flavio Forrer, MD Phd, uber Artz. The University of Basel was founded in 1460 by Pope Pius II for the study of Law, Religion, and Medicine. So, this change is routine and the continuity continues.
Good luck on your trip to Basel. Terry Y.
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