I have “spots” on my ischium and ilium. We (the doctor and radiologist) are not
exactly sure what those “spots” are. I
will be having a bone scan in a couple of months to look at them again.
For those of you who haven’t been in the loop, I have been
having soreness in my ribs (on the side where the cancer was) for over a month
now. Looking at my CT scan from June,
there was nothing to worry about. When I
brought it up to my surgeon at a routine appointment, he decided we WOULD worry
about it. I was scheduled for a PET scan
the next week. My age and the
aggressiveness of my cancer are nothing to mess with. My original tumor seemed to grow overnight. So just to be sure, I went for the scan.
At first I was anxious.
I didn’t think the pain was a big deal at first, but now that the
possibility of the cancer having metastasized was there, I worried. But then came peace. In fact, I barely thought about it over the
weekend of waiting for results. It is
what it is, right? No amount of
stressing or worrying can change that. I
went in to the doctor expecting bad news and expecting to have him lay out a
plan of action for me. That didn’t
exactly happen. I left the office quite
a bit numb. What does this mean??
He told me that there was no evidence of mets in my ribs. (I
had had a full body PET scan.) There was
also no sign of cancer in any of my vital organs. (WOOHOO!!)
But I had spots in my pelvis-on my butt bone. Spots?
He didn’t say cancer, he said spots.
I was confused. He explained that
cancer presents as bright spots on PET scans and these were not bright. But they were abnormal and a little
worrisome. He tried to reassure me, but
it was also his job to inform me of worse case scenarios.
My doctor ordered blood work to measure tumor markers. If a cancer is large or quickly multiplying,
it can be seen in the blood. He said the
next step would be a biopsy to see if these spots have the same pathology as
the original tumor. However, a bone
biopsy means surgery as it would be done under anesthesia. We would do an oral chemo and a shot that
should strengthen my bones. But all of
this would depend on the blood work.
Even though my doctor tried to reassure me, I was sure the
cancer was back. I was numb on Monday
and sad on Tuesday. I figured I should
be getting my affairs in order. Because
it is what it is, right? But then came
Wednesday and the phone call from the doctor.
My blood work came back completely normal. Tumor markers were not elevated and the spots
were not bright. Did I want to go ahead
with the biopsy? Or did I want to sit on
it (hahaha) a while? I asked him how
comfortable he was not doing anything at this time and he again tried to
reassure me. So because everything else
looks great (WOOHOO!), I am waiting on it.
I am going about living my life. IF these spots turn out to be cancer, we’ll
deal with it in a couple of months. For
now, I have no evidence of disease and the holidays to prepare for.
