volkmann's Cancer Blog
August 26, 2010
Roberta and I met with Dr. Agamah again on August 16, and he ordered another chemotherapy treatment for me. Since the clinic had no Leucovorin on hand for the second time, my session was shortened by two hours. Dr. Agamah also explained the results of the CT-PET Scan that I experienced on August 10. The radiologist reported that lymph nodes near my left pulmonary vein and near my right hilum had increased in size since my last CT-Pet Scan. He concluded that this was further metastasis of the colon cancer I have been fighting for years. He also reported that the increases might be a result of new technology. The CT-PET scanning machine was new, and the images are brighter now. The remainder of the scan was negative. Dr. Agamah did not seem alarmed, but wanted me to have another CT-Scan in three months.
December 25, 2009
During a recent visit with Dr. Agamah, I told him about some eyesight problems that I had been experiencing. He suggested that I go to my eye doctor and tell him about my symptoms. I met with my optometrist Dr. Clark, and I came away with good news. When I described my symptoms (seeing zig zags or flickering lights) in my peripheral vision field, he said that I was experiencing a migraine aura. Since I never have a migraine headache, I have what medical professionals call a silent migraine. Each episode occurs once or twice a month and lasts approximately four minutes. A migraine aura without headache occurs more often later in life, and more often in men than women. He also tested my eyes using an Optomap machine. By looking at the results of the test on his computer, he could clearly demonstrate that I had suffered no damage to my optic nerves. He did not seem alarmed and suggested that I just watch things more closely.
During a subsequent visit with Dr. Agamah, I told him about my visit to my optometrist. Dr. Agamah strongly advised me to schedule a consultation with an ophthalmologist, and one of the nurses made an appointment with Dr. Posegate. I had two appointments with Dr. Posegate, and he tested my eyes very thoroughly. He diagnosed my problem and called it an ocular migraine. Patients with ocular migraines can have a variety of symptoms including flickering lights (scintillations) in the peripheral vision field. As far as I can determine, a migraine aura and an ocular migraine are essentially the same condition. Both Dr. Agamah and Dr. Posegate suggested that the problem is not serious and is probably the result of eleven years of chemotherapy treatments.
Thanks for your support - 
Hello Carl! Good to hear from you but sorry about having to restart chemo. I’m just hoping the increase is a result of the new machine. If we get to pick a reason, that’s my vote.
What chemo are you going on? Sounds like a combination. Hang tough and give Roberta a hug from me.
Teresa
Hi Carl—
It’s good to hear from you again! I’m sorry to hear about the needed additional chemo, but I hope those blips on the PET scan are due to the machine and nothing more. May your next round go well with minimal side effects.
Martha