My Feet are Back on the Ground

(Note: I was drained by the happenings yesterday (Tuesday) that even though I started this entry late Tuesday, I had trouble focusing and finishing. I'm putting the final touches on this Wednesday morning).

The toughest part is just not knowing. If I know I can prepare myself. But if I don't know, then I need to figure out how to appear positive on the outside while always being mentally prepared for the worst.

So today, when I got some good news, it was very hard to contain myself.

Yesterday I spent the day at City of Hope getting three things done - nuclear bone scan, a CT of my chest, and a CT of by abdomen and pelvis. The doc is looking for a couple things, both pretty scary:

#1: Has the cancer spread? The bone scan will tell him if the cancer has mestastacized into my bones (the initial problem that my hematologist was trying to figure out was high calcium levels in my blood). Likewise, the chest CT will help the doctors determine  if the cancer has spread there.

#2: How big is the tumor? The doctor is looking for something called a thrombus - has the tumor started growing into one of the two veins feeding blood into and out of the kidney. If so, he'll need to open me up to perform the operation, extending my recovery period. Unfortunately the first set of CTs I received were pretty poor quality and the doctor couldn't determine from those scans.

So, when the doctor called at 6:00, I was prepared for the worst. Instead I got some really really good news. The cancer does not appear to have spread (even though the tumor is huge and has been growing for years, AND, there is no thrombus. 

I am most happy for my wife. I could see the relief on her face.

So, I'm on for robotic surgery on August 4th. Hopefully the next time I need to head to Durate is my pre-op appointment on July 21st.

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