Well, it wasn't the news we wanted to hear from Dr. Metzger, the surgeon at Mayo. He believes that the primary (source) of my cancer is floating in the colon which is not attached at the current moment so attach it and the cancer is back into my body. He said that the chances of my living on the bag the rest of my life will be about 90%. However, we then visited with my oncologist, Dr. Johnson, who spoke to him right away on the phone since both she and Dr. Lucas at Mission were delighted with my progress and recommended me for the reconnect. She understood his concern and yet with all the hope in the world she has now scheduled me for for a nuclear test. . a PET scan which may show more of the area and discover indeed where the primary is.
The crux of the issue is the lack of knowing where the source is (the primary). I am a bit miffed as to why Dr. Ahearn at Mission was not able to discover this when he opened me up last year. He removed 4 cm of my transverse colon to "get me into chemo as fast as possible," but did not go further into the colon to see the end of it. Why? Dr. Metzger is going to contact him to discuss that and other issues since he is the only one who has been inside. Metzger will also get the slides of the pathology report.
So he is working and Dr. Johnson is working to get me off the bag, but we are not as confident as we have been since the last CT scan showed me as "disease free."
The downside to the PET scan is I am not allowed to eat any carbs for 24 horus prior to the procedure which is the day after Thanksgiving! I was planning a big meal for us and a friend so we are up in the air about that now. I can still make it for everyone else and have my stuffing the day after. .I can certainly resist for 24 hours, eh? ;-)
We had a wonderful gathering last night at Mike & Lil's and got caught up with all the news.
Today we're running errands and doing a bit of shopping.
Let me know how you all are faring.
Love,
Peggy
Hi Peggy, Wow . . . I wasn’t expecting an update so soon! Thought you would still be unpacking and getting settled but, nope, you are already moved in and staying busy! I’m really sorry to hear that your appt didn’t bring better news. As always, I know that you will stay positive and move forward . . . and don’t let this slow you down!! It seems like every time you talk to a different doctor they say something different and that must be very, very frustrating. I always expect medical issues to be so straightforward and that’s not really the case—it seems like it is a lot more subjective. Anyway, I’m glad you have such great doctors and I know that you will all work together to do whatever needs to happen. I just wish it were easier!!! :) And be glad that you escaped to Florida . . . it’s been freezing here (literally-in the 30’s at night and 40’s during the day). It feels especially cold since a few days ago we had a warm spell. Anyway, our dogs are wearing their jackets and we are all bundled up, too! We are in the middle of watching the movie called Beginners. Didn’t you see this one? The little dog is adorable and I read an article saying he was rescued, which made me really happy. We paused the movie so Natalie could make more popcorn. Our dogs LOVE popcorn so they get some (plain) popcorn while we eat ours. Hope you and Patrick are having a good weekend—now I need to catch up on your other blog posts! Thanks for keeping me up-to-date!! :) Michelle
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