Friday, August 30, 2013

Oncology update

I had an appointment with my oncologist this morning. I meet with him every month before I get my Lupron shot. He asked me about my symptoms and then told me that, while my symptoms are not a typical presentation for a brain/spinal metastasis, he would like me to get an MRI to rule out that possibility. He said it's very unlikely, but that it's a box that we need to check. So if Stanford doesn't order that when I go up there next Friday, he will, and he scheduled my next appointment with him in two weeks...on Friday the 13th. Lovely. I'm not superstitious in the least, but there is something about having an appointment to discuss whether my cancer has metsed to my brain on Friday the 13th that just seems...well, eerie...and to be honest, freakin' hilarious! Not sure why, probably because I'm not superstitious, but I do find the timing of the appointment really funny.
As for the likelihood that my cancer has metastasized, I'm trying to be realistic and not freak out. To be honest, there's really nothing I can do about it anyway, so why stress, right? But ever since he said: "It's really unlikely, but it's something we need to check.", I keep flashing back to last November, during my appointment with the gynecologist, when she said: "It doesn't feel like a cancerous lump. I'm pretty sure it's not, but let's check it anyway." Then the ultrasound tech said: "It's not a cyst. It's probably benign, but we need to do a biopsy." Then when I had my biopsy, they told me: "Most of these come back benign. I'm sure it's nothing. You don't have a history of it in your family and you're so young." And then I remember going into the office for the results and being told my results were positive, that I did have cancer. I remember the room spinning and wondering if I was going to lose my hair. Then I remember the surgeon coming out after my mastectomy and telling us he got all the cancer, and then a couple weeks later being told they were wrong and it had metastasized to my lymph nodes. So, no, I don't trust doctors when they say "It's probably nothing.", especially when they want to do a test to go along with their "probably nothing" impression. My oncologist is very conservative when it comes to ordering tests. He didn't do a full body scan on me in the first place because he didn't see a need to and doesn't like to do tests just for the sake of doing tests, so to have him say he wants an MRI from my head to my waist, yeah, it scares me a little, or maybe a lot, depending on the moment.
So many of you have been praying. Please continue to pray. May God's glory shine through, no matter the outcome!

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