A May Day

May 3, 2011:
Gordy went with me (of course!) to the Oncologist yesterday. He tries to be upbeat & positive (for my sake) but is also a bit in denial. I think he's right in between there somewhere. God bless him, he's been wonderful!! He's so much like my Dad.

The largest of the 3 nodules in my upper right lung is growing at the rate of about 1 mm to 1.3 mm per month. It is now 1.5 cm by 1.6 cm (from the previous 1.3 cm by 1.3 cm @ the end of Feb) . He said he suspects that this is Bronchial Alveolar cancer because of its characteristics ("shotgun" - i. e. several small nodules) versus Adenocarcinoma had been in my right lung lobe (i.e. one large tumor). The CT scan found that I have a spot on a lymph node in my neck (a new development) which is about 1 cm in size (small pea); Dr. Schneider could not feel it when he did a physical check today.

He said if I wanted to wait another 2 or 3 months before we do another CT scan, he'd be OK with that (since the growth is so slow) . But he said he'd also be OK with doing a biopsy now (since the largest nodule is big enough to be able to biopsy). In his judgement, he thinks it will continue to grow slowly, but that there's always a chance it could simply take off & grow faster. So, he let me make the call.

I decided to have the biopsy now & not wait another 2 or 3 months. Why wait & take a chance? I'm scheduled for it on Friday morning @ Regions Hosp at 7:15. It will be a bit trickier & much more time consuming to do the biopsy time around because I have only one lung and if it should collapse as a result of the procedure, they'd have to put in a chest tube for me to breathe & admit me to the hospital. I have to go in on Wed for some bloodwork.

I know this all sounds terrifying, but over the past year & a half, I'm becoming alot more zen-like about it all. It is what it is and I can't change any of it by stressing out over it, so I really do have to "let go & let God", as the saying goes! That's about it for now. Will post more later. Love - me