I've talked before about part of the crazy cancer life being the loss
of innocence when it comes to medical issues.
I mean, other than the misery, if the average person has a cold, what’s
the big deal? Having a particularly aggressive
form of cancer with a high re-occurrence rate means you have to go visit the
Oncologist for every little thing that lasts over 2 weeks ‘cause instead of a
cold your cancer could have spread to your lungs.
So the little lump I noticed just before thanksgiving felt
to the Radiation Oncologist (Rads Onc) like scar tissue, but now 5-6 weeks
later is bigger. Normally, big deal,
areas of scar tissue change if the area is still undergoing trauma or changes because of the trauma. Today the Oncologist (my regular Onc) told me
that my body can still be scarring from the radiation for up to 6 months after
the radiation has stopped.
But it could still be cancer, so off to get an ultrasound
(fortunately they could work me in at the end of their day).
Or, it could be a complete surprise to everyone and be a lymph
node that was missed when all of mine were taken out.
We were shocked.
It’s good news, sort of.
My armpit (axillary) lymph nodes were removed because I had cancer in two of them so having them around is a possibility some cancer could have been left behind which is kinda scary. On the other hand, they exist in your body to serve a purpose and the Rads Onc completely fried the crap out of the whole chest and armpit area for the expressed purpose of cooking anything that might have gotten missed. AND the lymph node that I am feeling looks completely normal if not large (probably due to the said cooking it got, we hope).
So, we get to wait and watch, with a lot more hope that we had this morning.
At my oncology appointment we added a new treatment to my next, oh, 5 years, but I’ll write more about that later.
Oi! What a crazy cancer life.
of innocence when it comes to medical issues.
I mean, other than the misery, if the average person has a cold, what’s
the big deal? Having a particularly aggressive
form of cancer with a high re-occurrence rate means you have to go visit the
Oncologist for every little thing that lasts over 2 weeks ‘cause instead of a
cold your cancer could have spread to your lungs.
So the little lump I noticed just before thanksgiving felt
to the Radiation Oncologist (Rads Onc) like scar tissue, but now 5-6 weeks
later is bigger. Normally, big deal,
areas of scar tissue change if the area is still undergoing trauma or changes because of the trauma. Today the Oncologist (my regular Onc) told me
that my body can still be scarring from the radiation for up to 6 months after
the radiation has stopped.
But it could still be cancer, so off to get an ultrasound
(fortunately they could work me in at the end of their day).
Or, it could be a complete surprise to everyone and be a lymph
node that was missed when all of mine were taken out.
We were shocked.
It’s good news, sort of.
My armpit (axillary) lymph nodes were removed because I had cancer in two of them so having them around is a possibility some cancer could have been left behind which is kinda scary. On the other hand, they exist in your body to serve a purpose and the Rads Onc completely fried the crap out of the whole chest and armpit area for the expressed purpose of cooking anything that might have gotten missed. AND the lymph node that I am feeling looks completely normal if not large (probably due to the said cooking it got, we hope).
So, we get to wait and watch, with a lot more hope that we had this morning.
At my oncology appointment we added a new treatment to my next, oh, 5 years, but I’ll write more about that later.
Oi! What a crazy cancer life.
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