Did I mention I’m off to Las Vegas this evening? I was invited to participate in a company bowling tournament. It should be fun even though I am a very average bowler.
Anyway, a little fun before the surgery.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Another Surgery Scheduled...
Well, the Doctor at Vanderbilt called me this past Sunday, April 6th, to say that he “over read” the scans and that it wasn’t as bad as he thought and that the tumor was still isolated to just the rib. What a relief.
I made the trip to Vanderbilt yesterday, April 9th, to meet the Thoracic surgeon…nice guy…dry sense of humor…made me laugh. Anyway, he showed me the scans that caused the hubub, the PET scan shows activity on the rib and not in the lung…the recent CT scan shows either a scan anomoly or a huge tumor coming from the rib into the lung. If it’s tumor on the lung it’s big and you’d think I’d feel it or have symptoms but the doctor said himself, he didn’t know but since he was going to be cutting me open he’d go ahead and take a look and if it’s there, he’ll take it out. Thanks doc. It’s interesting to note that the radiologist report for that CT simply states lungs are clear, so I have to think it’s a scan anomoly.
So anyway, surgery is on April 29th, I will go up on the 28th for pre-op stuff. He will cut out as much rib as necessary and whatever else he sees. Don’t know how long I’ll be there, a couple of days I would imagine. He said it would be a good 4 to 6 week recovery but I think I can beat that.
I’ll be honest, I really don’t feel like doing another surgery but know I have to. It’s getting old but I must continue to fight this cancer. After this though, unless it’s an easy to get tumor, I think it’s time for a trip to hell and try High Dose IL2. I haven’t been avoiding it…just going on the advice of doctors…now this doctor says if or when the cancer comes back, it’s time to give it a shot. It’s really the only chance I have at a lasting remission. I just don’t like all the hospital time and missed work.
I’ll do what I have to do.
I made the trip to Vanderbilt yesterday, April 9th, to meet the Thoracic surgeon…nice guy…dry sense of humor…made me laugh. Anyway, he showed me the scans that caused the hubub, the PET scan shows activity on the rib and not in the lung…the recent CT scan shows either a scan anomoly or a huge tumor coming from the rib into the lung. If it’s tumor on the lung it’s big and you’d think I’d feel it or have symptoms but the doctor said himself, he didn’t know but since he was going to be cutting me open he’d go ahead and take a look and if it’s there, he’ll take it out. Thanks doc. It’s interesting to note that the radiologist report for that CT simply states lungs are clear, so I have to think it’s a scan anomoly.
So anyway, surgery is on April 29th, I will go up on the 28th for pre-op stuff. He will cut out as much rib as necessary and whatever else he sees. Don’t know how long I’ll be there, a couple of days I would imagine. He said it would be a good 4 to 6 week recovery but I think I can beat that.
I’ll be honest, I really don’t feel like doing another surgery but know I have to. It’s getting old but I must continue to fight this cancer. After this though, unless it’s an easy to get tumor, I think it’s time for a trip to hell and try High Dose IL2. I haven’t been avoiding it…just going on the advice of doctors…now this doctor says if or when the cancer comes back, it’s time to give it a shot. It’s really the only chance I have at a lasting remission. I just don’t like all the hospital time and missed work.
I’ll do what I have to do.
Friday, April 4, 2008
What to do about the rib
After further review and needlessly watching…the rib tumor has grown and grown into the chest cavity. Not sure if it’s at the lung. I will meet with a Thoracic surgeon next week to see if it can be got. Otherwise I will be looking at Cyberknife or drug treatment.
I’m a litte pissed because we knew it was there back in January but because the gallbladder reared it’s head, the rib took a backseat and now when we finally get to it, it’s grown and into a bad spot.
The Dr. suggested that this be my last surgery. He wants to move on to HD IL2 or other systemic treatment in the future. We’ll see.
I’m a litte pissed because we knew it was there back in January but because the gallbladder reared it’s head, the rib took a backseat and now when we finally get to it, it’s grown and into a bad spot.
The Dr. suggested that this be my last surgery. He wants to move on to HD IL2 or other systemic treatment in the future. We’ll see.
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