And Now We Wait

A lot has happened since my last post. It's been quite a whirlwind. And now that I am completely unmedicated for the first time in over a week, I thought I'd post about everything.

On June 12, I had an unsuccessful needle biopsy on the suspicious node in my neck. Despite 2 doctors, at least 10 trips in and our of the CT machine, an ultrasound, 2 giant needles in my neck, and 1.5 hours of pocking & prodding, they were unable to get a tissue sample. The node is hard & rubbery, and the doc was unable to get the needle inside it. He stopped because he said it was getting too dangerous to continue around all of the arteries/veins/nerves.

I met with my ENT the following day & she scheduled me for a CT scan, which happened on 6/14. On 6/21, I went under the knife for an excisional biopsy. She also diagnosed me with tonsil stones. GROSS! So, in addition to the biopsy on my neck, she also took my tonsils out!

That biopsy also did not go as planned. There were two big nerves the doc was concerned with (one for my shoulder & one for my diaphragm), so she was being extra careful. She told Nathan she got a good amount of tissue from around the site of the needle biopsy, but wasn't sure if she got from the suspicious node.

And...she didn't. The node she got was 0.33 cm (normal size), reactive (showing inflammation), but benign. HOORAY for that! But the node she was going for is still in there. And we still don't know any more than we did from the initial PET scan.

I met with my oncologist Friday. He was much more optimistic, as the node doesn't seem to have grown any. The type of lymphoma I had (have...had...whatever) is considered aggressive and fast growing. It's a great thing that the node is still only about 1 cm (as seen at my 8 week PET scan and again on my CT scan on 6/13).

We have decided to take the wait & watch approach since we've tried so much lately. A PET scan would be unreliable now because of the surgery. It would probably light up like a Christmas tree because of all of the inflammation in there now. My neck needs a break!

So...we wait. I go to the ENT on the 9th for another post-op check-up on my neck & tonsils. Then I go for blood work & to see the onco at the beginning of August. I will also schedule a PET scan for 12 weeks out from the last surgery.

In the meantime, the kids and I are very excited about our upcoming trip! We will be leaving for Louisiana on 7/10! We're staying for a few weeks & hope to do lots of relaxing and lots of visiting!