Day after Biopsy

I came home early because my biopsy went remarkably well. very noninvasive and quickly. I was sitting in my car to go home by 10:30 when we were prepared to be there until 2 pm or so.

The staff was great. I was very scared. They did everything they could do to make me feel relaxed. I did relax, once they got me settled, because then the ball started rolling. My personal admission nurse, had the same "type" of personality as I do so she was easy to "bond" with. As much as you can bond with a person you meet for an hour. Her name was Julie

My nurse anesthetist reminded me of Ed Begley. He at least had a face I could trust.

When My Doctor came in to "mark" me. (he told me its a bogus thing to have to do, but it makes patients more comfortable.) We laughed because "House" hasn't helped in this matter any.

Today he felt less like a jerk and more like John C McGinley (who plays Dr Cox on "scrubs") for those of you who don't have a husband that watches this contantly, Dr. Cox is the senior attending physician,who is described as "a hard-ass with a heart of gold" and for some reason all of the fear, all of the mistrust went out the window when that image came to my mind.

Doc, now has looked at this under the scope and told me that we will know for certain, but he is pretty sure that this is Hodgekins Disease. They say that this is not only treatable, but curable.

What I prayed for today:

1. I need to trust my doctors.
2. No Chest surgery.
3. I want to be home in time for supper
4. not to have to worry about coughing untill, after I get home where I can take my meds
5. and for a not so scary diagnosis

All of my prayers were answered today PRAISE God!

biopsy

today is my biopsy.

My surgery is now scheduled at 8 am.

If they can get the sample they need out of my shoulder I get to come home today. If they cannot, I have to stay overnight for observation. because they had to do a more invasive surgery.

I do not know when I will be out of surgery, and we are 2 hours from home. I know that Steve and Michelle will stay at the hospital until they see me awake and OK.

I am hoping and praying that the three of us get to come home tomorrow if that is the case i will be certain that someone sends out a bulletin.

Please if you hear nothing do not call or flood my email. We will be with you as quickly as we can

thank you

Consult with surgeon

I had my consult with my surgeon today. I went to Robert Packer in Sayre.

I have a new "lump" on my shoulder at my collar bone where there just used to be a single swollen gland that I could feel. This last week it swelled way up and got hard like a tennis ball. I would also say its about the same size as one as well, but you can only see the top half of it. Anyhow my surgon has confirmed this to be another tumor. It was not there the day of my cat scan on the 17th. The glands were swollen but I did not have the tennis ball "Knot".

I am scheduled for my biopsy Wednesday at 1 PM. I have to Plan on staying over night, and I will be under complete anesthesia and in a OR.

They cannot do a needle biopsy they way they do with other cancers because of the type of tissue this grows in. Lymphoma really is a different breed of cancer. It doesn't act like normal cancer, it doesn't Grow like normal cancer, and you cant treat it like normal cancer. I wish I had more information on this subject. But I am thinking I will learn more when I meet my oncologist.

To do a biopsy they need a MINIMUM of a thimble sized piece of tissue.and they want the sample to be a "good one" these are his words I am unsure what that means unless perhaps he can tell due to his experience what a cancerous lymph node looks like as opposed to a lymph node that is just swollen?

So anyhow hes going to cut into my collarbone area and try to cut out enough of a "good" sample to be able to type this lymphoma. He assures me that he thinks this will be fine due to its size and it gets to sit there and cook till next Wednesday. If he is not happy with the sample he gets from my shoulder,while I am still under, he will go in between my ribs on my right side. He will go behind my lungs and in front of my heart. This is where the original mass is located. And he KNOWS he can get what he needs there. But that procedure is more painful and more evasive. So PLEASE pray that they can get what they need out of my shoulder.

Cat Scan

My tech was Just wonderful! full of energy and vitality. I almost felt that if I could have bottled some of her vitality and drank it I could get better!

She talked me through that cat scan I had been very afraid. Because I had never done it before. But God made certain that I had a tech that I had seen before (she was the one that suggested I should wait on that first x ray for a few days...) so I already felt like I knew her.

she made this bad day a bit better.

My mother in law (who went with me) and I went up to the doctors office to await the results of the cat scan.

They came in with in 30 mins. It showed a plethora of things
It showed that mass was only 6.5 cm and that it was in my Lymph nodes.

But my spleen and my adrenal gland, and my heart and stomach were all unaffected. Also that the mass was "connected to" the small lymph node in my collar bone area.

The "impression" stated "the findings are most likely related to Lymphoma"

Chest X Ray

I realized today that I had never gotten that chest x ray so right after work I headed up!

I went home and received a call within the hour from My mom who works at my doctors office with an urgent message from my doctor. she told me that she was going to stop here on her way home from work that day.

There was a 8cm mass in my chest cavity. We weren't sure where we just knew it was not in my lungs and not in my heart, but in that area.

I was scheduled for a cat scan on Monday at 2 pm... and I was not to "mess around"

Doctor Appt

My doctor did not like the look of my swollen gland. he says when one swells and the one on the opposite side does not sometimes it could mean lymphoma, but he wasn't certain, he ordered some blood work and a chest x-ray.

I went to get my blood work done but when I was ready for my chest x-ray, I realized that I could not have it that day and I would do it on Friday. I was certain that I would do it then.

swollen glands

I awoke this morning with a gland at my collarbone swollen up. I have had this nasty cough for a while as well, (about 2 or 3 months) so perhaps It is best for me to go and see the doctor....