I’ll write this post in point form.

• We saw Dr on Wednesday, 19 February. During this consult there was some discussion of how the cancer has now colonised the bone marrow as well as the bony skeleton itself.
• He mentioned also (apologizing for being blunt) that my disease was now at its terminal stage. (Having gone to stage 4 fairly much straightaway, I had done well to maintain good health for eight or nine years.)
• Although we knew that I was already in extra time, hearing this came as a shock to both of us. However, there’s no alternative to pushing on down the treatment path remaining to me.
• I had mentioned in my previous post about a treatment involving lutetium-177. This would be administered at the Peter Mac hospital, at their Parkville site. (I know this well because I had my treatment for the Merkel carcinoma there.)
• In the lead- up to the consult before last, I had had two scans at Eastern Health in Box Hill, a PSMA PET/CT and an FDG PET/CT. These were meant to assess my suitability for the lutetium therapy. I had expected that Dr P would be able to give me the OK (or otherwise) for this at our last consult.
• The final say, however, apparently rests with Peter Mac. Dr P has found them a bit dilatory in the past, but they have contacted me several times, the last to make a telehealth appointment on Tuesday 25th of February. I think (and hope) that the answer on this occasion is “yes” — I have already had to pass a few hurdles to get this far — but we shall see. Of course I will keep everyone updated as to what the final final answer is.