After Hutton’s latest scans and the massive growth of the tumors in her lungs we are continuing with immunotherapy and we are adding targeted radiation to her lungs.
She will have 5 sessions of this radiation. Since the radiation is every other day we will be living in a hotel at UCLA for a few days over the next two weeks. The drive back and forth is exhausting for all of us, so staying at UCLA just makes the most sense.Radiation makes Hutton really tired getting up early, driving for over an hour up, getting radiation, then driving hours (sometimes 2-3) back just takes too much out of her, so a hotel is the better option. Thankfully, this round of radiation is only 5 sessions, so we will be able to do it over 2 weeks instead of the 6 weeks she did before.
The downside of radiation is that it creates “false hot spots” on PET scans. Radiation triggers an intense healing response. White blood cells rush to the treated area to clear out dead cells and repair damage. These active immune cells also consume sugar at a very high rate. As a result, the healing tissue glows just as brightly as a tumor, causing a false positive. Usually this “calms down” after 12-16 weeks so that puts us at around March to know if the radiation and immunotherapy are working. To say that is nerve-wracking for us is a huge understatement.
The upside to doing immunotherapy instead of chemotherapy is that Hutton is feeling GREAT! Her hair is growing, her appetite is back, and she is just overall in a good mood, because she is feeling good! She still gets tired easily and doesn’t like having too many things scheduled but the spunky Hutton is coming back.
