Surgery Consultation

We got a call this morning that the surgeon who will do the biopsy had an opening in his schedule today. So instead of waiting until April 4th, we got to talk with the surgeon today, a week early. He did a quick ultrasound in the exam room to confirm what he saw in my CT scans. His conclusion was that the safest, best way to get a sample would be to make an incision between my 2nd and 3rd ribs just to the left of my sternum. He will spread the fibers of my pectoral muscle apart to get right at "my mass" for a lack of a better description. It will be an outpatient procedure but thankfully they'll put me out for it so I won't remember anything. I am sure it will be a bit sore though but that's what pain meds are for, right. Strangely enough I have never taken narcotic pain medication. I got a prescription for some after my wisdom teeth removal but never used them because the ibuprofen worked just fine. The surgery is scheduled for Friday, April 8th, and the results should only take a day or so but that would probably push it to the beginning of the following week. We'll see what it turns out to be. It seems like everything has been moving so fast with appointments being moved up earlier and the doctors working to get things done as soon as possible. I am not sure how we'll handle this waiting time but I suspect we'll continue to be calm and at peace thanks to the support of our family and friends. Thanks Rita and Johanna for watching Sophie over the last week so Tara could be at the appointments with me.

A quick look back

Let me briefly explain how all of this came about. Ever since the Christmas holiday I have not felt myself. It is possible that it may go back farther but may have been hidden by the tiredness that comes from having an infant in the house. I was having cycles of fevers, frequent night sweats, and just always felt fatigued. Tara finally convinced me to see a doctor. They started with some blood work which showed that there was inflammation in my system and I was very slightly anemic. A week and a half later they did some more bloodwork that confirmed the inflammation somewhere in my system and so we went ahead with a CT scan. The scan showed a mass and so my family doctor referred me to an oncologist. He ordered another scan but this one was a PET/CT scan, meaning that they shot me up with radioactive sugar. The mass glowed on the scan indicating it was an area of high metabolic activity. It was hard not to be able to see Sophie for 24 hours while the radioactivity decayed, because to be in the same room with her means that she wants me to hold her. It made me realize that this process is going to be tough because I won't be able to play with my baby like I used to. The next step is a biopsy to get a definitive diagnosis of what this mass is.

Here We Go

First, I must thank my wife for setting up this blog for me. She has been my biggest supporter and with her help I know I can get through this ordeal. It seems like we've been living this trial for a long time now but it has only been 10 days since I first learned of a mass in my mediastinal space. For those of you who don't know your medical terminology, there was actually a cluster of several masses right under my breastbone and ribs. It is in the space around the heart, lungs, and breathing tube. The doctor strongly suspects that this will turn out to be Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of lymphatic cancer. The masses that showed up in my chest are likely enlarged lymph nodes containing cancerous cells. During these last 10 days, I've felt (among many emotions) shock, uncertainty, calm, and concern for my friends and family. Tara and I feel that we have been prepared to deal with this trial and know that with the support of our wonderful family and friends we'll be just fine. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I'll post updates here so you know where we are at in the diagnosis and treatment process.