Met with Surgeon

Met with Dr. Harlow today at FAHC. He is a surgical oncologist. He examined the lymph nodes in the neck and under the clavicle that are still "lighting up" in the PET Scan. He decided the best course of action is to remove the one in the neck that they can get to easily with an outpatient surgery. They will then test the tissue to determine if it indeed still has disease, or is something else. We will find out today when the procedure will be, probably next Tuesday. Pam is obviously very anxious about this and what the results might mean.

So in an effort to cheer her up and distract we went to look at a leather sofa she wants to get. I am wondering if I can convince Blue Cross to cover it as a mental health expense :) !!!

We will keep you all posted as things develop. Once again thank you all so much for your unbelievable support. Be sure to enjoy the holiday season and remember what your priorities are!!!
Troy.

PET SCAN RESULTS!

We met with Dr. Nunnink today to go over the results of the PET Scan from Monday. Good News! The large mass in the chest: gone, the cancer in the lymph nodes under the arm: gone, the cancer in the hip: gone! The only glitch- a small area in her neck "lit up" in the scan. What this means is that there is some form of high metabolic activity in this region. Dr. Nunnink is not sure what it is. It could be an inflammation, it could be cancer, it could be nothing. He is going to consult with some other specialists and get a plan together on how to proceed with this.

So, this is what we know: two more cycles of chemo (Dec. and Jan.), followed by 4-6 weeks of radiation treatment. The neck issue: they might bioipsy, they might hit it with radiation, they might surgically go in and remove the tissue. At this point we are unsure.

It wasn't the the news we were praying to hear, but Dr. Nunnink says that we should be very pleased with the results thus far and that he will figure out the rest. So that is how we are taking this, great news!

We will fill you in when we now more on the new issue.

Troy and Pam.

Big Week! I will keep you posted!

Pam has had a great week. The reaction to the Chemo this time was much better. She was able to go out to dinner the other night with a bunch of her friends and they shaved her head down with some clippers. She now looks like Demi Moore in GI Jane! We also did a belated Thanksgiving dinner with her family yesterday and that was very nice.

Pam has a PET scan tommorrow (Mon. 12/4). This will once again scan her body looking for signs of cancer. We will meet with Dr. Nunnink on Wed. at 2:20pm to go over the results. If no cnacer shows up then we are looking at 2 more cycles (Dec.-Jan.) and then radiation. If there is still some cancer, then we are looking at longer and more aggresive chemo treatments. Keep you fingers crossed! We will update you all on Wed. afternoon.
Thanks for checking in.
Troy.