The enlarged lymph nodes that Dr. T saw on Mom's CT scan last Monday did light up on her PET scan on Thursday, which would lead us to believe that there is cancer there. However, the nodes are too small to biopsy, and, as Mom has had two types of cancer, Dr. T doesn't want to do anything without a biopsy. So right now we're kind of stuck. We're going to watch and wait and go back in 4 weeks (August 30th) for another CT scan. If the nodes are normal-sized, then we do nothing and assume it was a fluke (provided Mom's tumor markers are still normal and she's still symptom-free). If they're larger or if there are more involved (or if Mom's having symptoms or has elevated tumor markers), then I'm sure Dr. T will further investigate. If everything's the same, who knows?
Now, as you probably already know, we've got two cancers to consider here (at least we hope it's just two!). There's Mom's breast cancer (BC), which was last seen in her liver in 2004; she's been NED (no evidence of disease) on the BC front ever since. And then there's the pancreatic cancer (PC), which was removed via surgery last September. The lymph nodes closest to Mom's PC tumor were removed in surgery, and five of them tested positive for PC. Even though Mom's BC is stage IV and her PC was stage II, the PC is more of a concern to us because there are very few options for treating PC (and basically no effective treatment options, according to medicine). Hence, if this new finding turns out to be cancer, we want it to be BC, because there are several different treatment options available for Mom's type of BC.
Because of the location of these new enlarged lymph nodes, Dr. T still feels this is very unlikely to be PC, which is great news. These nodes are located in the center of Mom's chest, closer to her original BC site. Dr. T says that it's likely that Mom's BC has cloned itself into a form that's resistant to herceptin (the drug that Trish has been receiving for the last 7 years to keep her BC away) and started growing again in these lymph nodes. Upon looking back at Mom's last PET scan from last August, Dr. T noticed that this same area in her chest took up some of the radioactive dye back then; but it was subtle enough that it wasn't concerning. So that's discouraging, as it seems to point to cancer being present there a year ago. What's encouraging (and also puzzling) about this is that Mom's BC tumor markers are normal, and, in the past, they have always been elevated when her BC was growing.
False positives are pretty common on PET scans, as any infection, inflammation, or increased activity can make body parts "light up." Just to give you an idea of how sensitive these things are . . . after being injected with the radioactive dye, Trish has to lie in a recliner in a dark room for an hour before the scan. She can't talk or read. She can't even work a crossword puzzle because that might increase activity in her brain and make it light up on the scan. So there is still a possibility that this could turn out to be nothing, but the fact something showed up on last year's scan makes it more worrisome.
We've known Dr. T for almost ten years now and can usually read him pretty well. We've seen him happy and encouraged, and we've seen him grim and somber. Mom and I both agreed that he was difficult to read this time. When he could tell we were trying to read his mind (apparently we weren't hard to read, ha), he told us that he's worried by the PET scan results. And then a few minutes later he noted that he's encouraged by Mom's normal BC tumor markers. So who knows, really? Who knows if this is breast cancer? Who knows if it's pancreatic cancer? Who knows if it's some other kind of cancer? Who knows if it's cancer at all? One thing we know for sure, though, and that is that God is alive and at work here, just as He always has been. Before leaving, Dr. T reminded Mom that "the Lord's been all over this since the beginning." And there's nothing hard to read about that. :-)
On to the prayer requests . . .
- Pray for total and complete healing from all types of cancer and anything else that might be going on in my mother's very abnormal body! It's Monday, by the way. ;-)
- In two weeks (August 16th), Mom goes for her normal herceptin treatment, and we plan on asking for tumor markers (both BC and PC) to be drawn again. Pray that both of these will be normal!
- Mom's follow-up CT scan will be August 30th. Pray for a real all clear! Pray for whatever's going on in Mom's lymph nodes to completely resolved by then.
- Pray for Dr. T as he plans Mom's care and that of his other patients.
- Pray for our friend Karen and her family. Karen went through a round with breast cancer three years ago and has recently been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She's been in the hospital for the last two weeks going through some pretty intense chemo. She has a second bone marrow biopsy coming up soon.
- Pray for Kathy and her family. Kathy has recently been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer and has a PET scan tomorrow. She should start chemo sometime this week.
- Pray that each of us will feel God's peace and presence and that we will trust Him always.
- Pray that God will continue to reveal His glory throughout every twist and turn of this roller coaster. Pray that we, as well others, will come to know Him more and love Him better because of this experience.
Ten years ago this week, my mom found a lump in her breast. Our family has been through a crazy ride with many highs and lows over the last decade, and God has been faithful through it all. We never could've imagined the challenges He would allow us to face and the blessings that He would shower upon us along the way. We're still riding. And we still serve a God who is always faithful. My cup runneth over.
P.S. I know there was a lot of medical info in this post. If I forgot to address something or if you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer.
2 comments:
love you guys , will be praying , thanks for keeping us updated. love Tara
Continuing in prayer..thanks for the update.
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