Third Time's the Charm!

I met my 3rd oncologist on Friday, November 5 and really like him!  His name is Dr. Armor, and I was very impressed.  He had reviewed my records before I arrived, so he knew something about my circumstances.  I asked him if he would have a problem working with my doctors in New Orleans, and he said, "I don't know why I would!", and that spoke volumes.  He reiterated that all the scans showed nothing on my mesentery, so the procedure of packing chemo-soaked foam into/around the tumor seemed to have worked!!  Brilliant!!

Dr. Armor was surprised at my appearance...he told me I don't look "sick" and that he had expected to walk in and find me in a wheelchair after the extensive surgery I had this past May.  I'm certainly not a bundle of energy and the tedious behavior(s) of my students wear me down by the end of the day, but I feel blessed to be in the shape I'm in.  I could certainly be a lot worse.

When I handed Dr. Armor my list of tests and scans to be done before my next trip to New Orleans in April, he scanned it and didn't agree with some of them.  He wasn't sure why Dr. Woltering had requested them unless they were for research purposes (on my dime), and asked if I was OK with him calling Dr. Woltering.  Again, that spoke volumes.  At this point, I'm not so hard-headed and dead-set that I have each and every test on the list because only 6 months will have passed since the last ones, and things DID look good after the last ones.  I'll just wait and see what Dr. Armor finds out and go from there.

One thing I didn't particulary like was the fact that he spoke of my mortality.  I have never wanted to know "how much time I have" and still don't, and Dr. Armor said he didn't think I'd live to be 80 and may not live until 60 (not too far in the future).  I think his point was that carcinoid is still a mystery, but I truly believe that my surgery lengthened my life by quite a bit.  I'm not sure what the whole "you'll always have carcinoid" is all about since the two primary tumors have been removed, unless it's because there are still spots on my liver, but I will have to take the Sandostatin shot every month for the rest of my life.  I pray that something easier is developed in the near future because it hurts going in and for several days thereafter.

Tomorrow is my 11-month milestone, nearly a year since the diagnosis and I'm so thankful for all the positives that have happened during that time.

Benign Biopsy!!

I had my two stitches removed today from the biopsy which was done last Thursday on the redish spot on my collar bone.  It was benign (praise God!) and is actually a "capillary hemangioma".  Basically, it's like a birthmark.  I have no idea what caused it, but I hope no more pop up anywhere!

The MRI I had done last month showed 4 lesions in my liver, but I'm hoping they are scar tissue from the chemoembolization treatments earlier this year.  I'm sending a copy of the report to New Orleans, so hopefully Dr. Woltering can clarify that for me.