My latest PET scan showed node growth combined with additional nodes in my abdomen. That of course is a bummer, no cake should go un-iced though, so the additional bad news is that my stomach also shows uptake as well. Now I would use the F word again in this instance but once per post is probably enough. The good news is I can stop taking the pills I was so thoughtfully counting in the 1st paragraph. The bad news is, they did not work. We are back to the cancer drawing board with more nodes, a sore swollen neck, and now something unknown in my stomach. Well when digestion turns south (tee hee) you are referred to a gastroenterologist. This will be a first for me. She does not examine me, I don't really care. She tells me she will stick a scope down my throat, into my stomach, look around and take a biopsy. Oh yeah, the important part is I need a driver and will probably needs someone to help with the kids, I will be in NO condition to drive. She tells me this like people do it all the time. Driving is the least of my worries what about this thing in my stomach? She won't know until she takes a gander, she re-assures me that PET scans have been wrong. However if it is breast cancer in my stomach...well that would be very bad. She makes some remark about the quality of my genetic make-up and for some reason I just shrug it off. I don't even care if I get to know one more doctor is this team of professionals that is trying to get me well. My Rolodex of nurses and doctors is full to the brim. I am to a point where I would stick a scope down my own throat to see what is going on in my stomach, rather then fill out another medical history page. That of course would be completely impossible due to my crazy gag reflex and general state of distress when it comes to anything medical...sometimes bloggers can be a little dramatic, I think they call it literary license.
So tomorrow will be my 1st EGD. Totally a messed up way to spend Halloween. Thankfully it is my ex's holiday this year, so I don't have to worry about the boys. I did ask my new Dr. if she planned on dressing up. Thankfully she said no, but the nurses might. Great nothing like twilight drugs with people in costume. Are they trying to ensure a bad trip? It sounds pretty straight forward, no eating after midnight. Check in at 7:00, procedure at 8:00, I should be on my way home by 9:00. That will be the time where I watch horrible daytime TV and ponder the results of my latest procedure. She said she will probably know if it is cancer right away. They will take a tissue sample to be sure. Another good to know fact, I guess. Since the call, and the visit with Dr. Gastro my stomach has not stopped hurting. To make matters worse a dear friend came down with appendicitis this weekend. The hypochondriac in me is pretty sure, if it is not an ulcer or cancer then I must have appendicitis.
I am frustrated and scared. It feels as if I have been running around this cancer wheel. Time seems to pass, and not much changes.
The only time I feel "normal" is when I am on my bike. For those few hours a week, I am not sick, I don't have cancer, and I am hopelessly in the moment. This life is certainly a struggle. Most days I feel like anyone else, except for result days. Those days stop me, remind me, hurt me, compel me to look at cancer in my life. I don't do well in this space. I will be returning to the oncology office in the next few weeks for a new infusion therapy. My new drug of choice will be gemcidabine. Needles and nurses will be in my world on a regular basis again. Cancer seems to want my attention, it is however a small part of me, and I resist at every turn to make cancer the focus of my life.
So light a candle in your jack-o-lantern, and send some light my way.
