I'm beyond excited to share that the pulmonologist (lung specialist) has decided that the nodules in my lungs are too small to biopsy right now. I know my excitement may seem crazy to some of you. It does mean that I have to wait it out, not knowing what the nodules are......but right now it feels like good news. It means I will actually go 12 months without any surgeries!!! My last one was in December 2013 and now I'm in the clear until 2015 at least. I'm VERY excited about a holiday season with no trips to Houston! I'll go back in January or February depending on what the doctors decide. They will do another CT scan then to see if there has been any growth/change. Isn't it awesome how God knows just what we need! I physically, emotionally and mentally needed and wanted a surgery free 2014!
Please continue to pray that the nodes have no change between now and the next scans. We don't want any additional nodes, nor any node growth. Also, continue to pray that the granulation tissue is no longer a problem so that my reconstruction finally heals properly.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Thursday, October 9, 2014
MDA Check up Results
I've been enjoying LIVING so much that I skipped my summer appointment at MD Anderson and went on vacation with my family (first time just the 4 of us since 2012 - my 2nd diagnosis), moved to a new house, hosted Isaiah's 12th birthday bash on the 4th of July....lots of things keeping me too busy for appointments!
I did need to bite the bullet and go back, however, and Billy and I returned from the trip last night. It was nice to have a 6 month break, but the visit was necessary. One of the great benefits of going to Houston is that they have doctors that don't ignore anything, so things will be caught very early. They also have such high tech equipment and staffing through their university to approach everything with the utmost detail. I'm so grateful for this and do believe this has gotten me where I am now......WITH LIFE! However, with this benefit also comes some downside........they don't ignore ANYTHING!
Yesterday I had to have an in-office procedure that was extremely painful. Once again removing granulation tissue where my reconstruction never wants to heal correctly. Dr L did encourage me that it will heal eventually. I had pretty much given up on this idea because it has been over 1 1/2 years of "trying" to heal and get rid of pain that it causes. I'm recovering well from this and it will help me with the daily pain that has increased again in the last couple months. I've had this same procedure done 4 times before....but it helps so I am thankful after each time.
Also, my CT scans of the chest still show some 5 or 6 small spots that they don't have a name for. The largest spot is 7 mm and once they knew to look for it on the January 2013 scan they can see it was there at that time, though microscopically small. This being said....it has grown to 7mm VERY SLOWLY. This is not typical of lung cancer. Also, spots in the lungs come from many things other than cancer. Both of my Houston friends that had my same TPE surgery had spots in their lungs. Both turned out to be "nothing" that needed treatment. However, they are very cautious at MDA and do not want to ignore anything. There is not a huge rush to do a biopsy of the largest spot because I am not having any symptoms at all. However, they do want to have a biopsy done. This will probably take place in November and will be done as a CT guided biopsy by a Pulmonologist (Lung specialist).
Obviously we prayed that we would be told it was not cancer for sure, but that this would be God's story and we would be obedient to walk through the doors he opens. We are tired of November being a month of trials, tests, and bad news, but there is a glimmer of hope that we will be told this is definitely not cancer as we round the base to our 4th year anniversary of my diagnosis....November 15th.
An excerpt from the booklet "Your Life Without Limits" by Nick Vujicic says....
"What is hope? It is where dreams begin. It is the voice of your purpose. It speaks to you and reassures you that whatever happens to you doesn't live within you. You may not control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond. We cannot see into the future. Instead, we picture the possibilities for what might be. Hope is God's gift to us, a window to look through."
As we view our own little world, may we all view it through a window of hope.
I did need to bite the bullet and go back, however, and Billy and I returned from the trip last night. It was nice to have a 6 month break, but the visit was necessary. One of the great benefits of going to Houston is that they have doctors that don't ignore anything, so things will be caught very early. They also have such high tech equipment and staffing through their university to approach everything with the utmost detail. I'm so grateful for this and do believe this has gotten me where I am now......WITH LIFE! However, with this benefit also comes some downside........they don't ignore ANYTHING!
Yesterday I had to have an in-office procedure that was extremely painful. Once again removing granulation tissue where my reconstruction never wants to heal correctly. Dr L did encourage me that it will heal eventually. I had pretty much given up on this idea because it has been over 1 1/2 years of "trying" to heal and get rid of pain that it causes. I'm recovering well from this and it will help me with the daily pain that has increased again in the last couple months. I've had this same procedure done 4 times before....but it helps so I am thankful after each time.
Also, my CT scans of the chest still show some 5 or 6 small spots that they don't have a name for. The largest spot is 7 mm and once they knew to look for it on the January 2013 scan they can see it was there at that time, though microscopically small. This being said....it has grown to 7mm VERY SLOWLY. This is not typical of lung cancer. Also, spots in the lungs come from many things other than cancer. Both of my Houston friends that had my same TPE surgery had spots in their lungs. Both turned out to be "nothing" that needed treatment. However, they are very cautious at MDA and do not want to ignore anything. There is not a huge rush to do a biopsy of the largest spot because I am not having any symptoms at all. However, they do want to have a biopsy done. This will probably take place in November and will be done as a CT guided biopsy by a Pulmonologist (Lung specialist).
Obviously we prayed that we would be told it was not cancer for sure, but that this would be God's story and we would be obedient to walk through the doors he opens. We are tired of November being a month of trials, tests, and bad news, but there is a glimmer of hope that we will be told this is definitely not cancer as we round the base to our 4th year anniversary of my diagnosis....November 15th.
An excerpt from the booklet "Your Life Without Limits" by Nick Vujicic says....
"What is hope? It is where dreams begin. It is the voice of your purpose. It speaks to you and reassures you that whatever happens to you doesn't live within you. You may not control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond. We cannot see into the future. Instead, we picture the possibilities for what might be. Hope is God's gift to us, a window to look through."
As we view our own little world, may we all view it through a window of hope.
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