Good morning! Due to timing, I've got to keep it brief, which as you all know is not the easiest thing in the world for me!
Blood tests: good
Stomach/abdomen CAT scan: good, no signs of spread
Endoscopy: good. No evidence of increased tumor growth, no signs of other "normal" cancer
Praise the Lord! Her doc is really very pleased, very encouraged that this is the ultra-rare form of gastric carcinoid that will still be here, pretty much just like it is today, 45 years from now. He has agreed to have it followed on a yearly basis, instead of every six months. He does not think that she needs yearly CAT or octreoscans, just endoscopy. If that looks suspicious or different, then the other tests would be done, but only if the endoscopy has changed adversely.
So, since nothing can ever be perfectly simple, there is one wrinkle. The ultrasound showed a well-circumscribed 3 cm X 3 cm lesion in her mediastinum (Chest), basically in the area that the chest surgery was done down at Duke a few months ago. He does not think it is cancer, but thinks that it is either a reactive lymph node to having had the surgery, or that they did not get all the lesion during the surgery. Since Duke did all the CAT scan stuff on the lesion before, he does not have much baseline info to use for comparison.
Mayo being Mayo, however, he picked up the phone and got her worked in for a chest CAT scan, which she is having done right now, then he will see her as soon as she has completed that test. We should still make our flight on time. I do not think we will have any firm answer on the lesion today, but rather will have Mayo forward the results to the surgeon at Duke so that he can compare. Also, we will have his surgical notes and operative reports, CAT scans, etc. sent from Duke to Mayo, so that everyone has everything. Duke was supposed to have done this months ago, but either they didn't or we didn't sign the right forms, who knows. Over the next few weeks we'll get this sorted out.
I will leave you with this quote from Dr. Thompson, who again impressed us: "(Pending the chest issue) I think that you are really pretty healthy."
That, friends and family, is good news.
We look forward to being home soon!
Tony
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4 comments:
Breathing a big sigh of relief that all the testing on the original "stuff" had good results!! Praying that everything comes out fine with the new scan on her chest. Can't anything ever be neat and tidy?? (grin)
Love ya'll!!
Donna
Praise the Lord, and Hallelujah!
I'm with Donna on the "neat and tidy" idea.
Love,
Linda Lee
Glad to hear the good news. Look forward to seeing you home!
Warren
Praise God! We'll continue to pray!
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