[Cancer]
[cancer] Dept of things you never thought you’d say -or- Things get worse
It’s not every day you find yourself saying, “Please, god, let it be metastatic colon cancer,” because that would be the best outcome.
Oncologist consult was a bit more exciting than we’d hoped. In summary (and right now, summary is about all there is), the mass on my liver has vanished. Apparently it was some kind of infection. The mass on my lung is now double the size it was on the May scans, and half again the size it was in July, and has been officially classed as a tumor, pending tissue biopsy. Thoracic surgery has been prescribed, sometime in November.
The surgery will be thoraciscopic, which means far less invasive than last year’s colonic resectioning. Shorter hospital stay, much shorter recovery/rehab period. The mass is only about a centimeter in diameter, and it’s very distinct, so it’s an easy target. Back of my left lung, fairly low down, and the oncologist thinks the surgical plan will be pretty simple.
Next step is a pre-operative consult with the thoracic surgeon. Surgery will be scheduled sometime in November. Post-operatively a tissue biopsy will be conducted on the tumor to determine if it is metastatic colon cancer or a novel lung cancer. (Chemo planning will follow from that determination.)
Hence the remark above — lung cancer would be a far more serious diagnosis, with a much poorer prognosis. Even metastatic colon cancer is damned spooky in terms of cure rates and survivability, but lung…meh. We’ll cross that bridge when we’ve set fire to the stream.
So, no further news likely til after WFC, as I won’t see the surgeon before next week. The reader is invited to imagine my mental and emotional state, which I will explicate as is my wont, once I’ve sorted through it a bit more. For now,
A bit later today I’ll sit down with
More as it develops. Just try and shut me up.
Posted: 4:58 pm Mon October 26 2009 |
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You are reading the blog of Jay Lake, speculative fiction writer and author of hundreds of short stories, many novels, and winner of the John W. Campbell Award.
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Cora
October 26th, 2009 at 5:11 pmI’m very sorry to hear this. Still keeping my fingers crossed for you that everything works out all right.
Mary Robinette Kowal
October 26th, 2009 at 5:37 pmUm… glad the spot on the liver is gone? Good lord, the roller coaster just keeps going.
Steve Buchheit
October 27th, 2009 at 6:11 amGlad the liver cleared out. Hopefully the lung thing won’t be bad and the chemo/rehab will be straight forward. I know it’s impossible to keep it all out of mind, but here’s hoping it’ll only be in the background until the pre-op.
Leslie What
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:19 amDude, stay strong and know we’re all sending thoughts for healing and health.
Leslie
Alley
November 24th, 2009 at 9:08 pmwhy not gamma knife it out? If it’s not close to your heart, zap that sucker. No surgery, no hospital stay. Course, I’m not a doctor either
. Mine were right next to my heart, so I had to be opened up on each side. Hurt like hell, but so glad to have that crap out of my body. If they had been even one more inch away from my heart, gamma knife would have been my choice.
Good luck!!!!! I’ll keep you in my prayers. Big hugs to you, Jay, and your family…. Alley Pat Hauldren