After a brief respite, it seems the cancer has taken another road trip and stopped in yet another place in my body. A couple of weeks ago I started experiencing pain radiating from the top of my neck down into my right arm, with tingling in the lower part of the arm and numbness in my right thumb. Talked to Dr. Karamlou about it during my last visit and he scheduled a CT scan and MRI to check it out - said it was clearly nerve pain and it could be anything from a pinched nerve to a bone spur to arthritis. A tumor was a possibility but the symptoms and other tests (arm and hand grip strength, etc.) didn't jive with other symptoms that would indicate a tumor so it did come as a complete surprise (more like total shock) to discover that there is a tumor on a cervical vertebrae, affecting blood flow and causing the nerve pain.
Once the shock of the news wore off, or better said, sunk in the next questions were "How bad is this and what do we do for treatment?". Unfortunately, the news is not good. The tumor is in the bone and the soft tissue around the vertebrae - this means that even if surgery is an option, we can't get all of the tumor because it's invaded the bone too. Of additional concern is weakening of the bone which could cause a pathological fracture. That could mean compression or collapse of the vertebrae and quite possibly, paralysis to arms and legs. Now before everyone freaks out, that is worse case and something I need to be careful of in not overexerting my neck (thus hanging up the dancing shoes for the tango for awhile) until we begin treatment. And the good news is there are options.
I'm meeting Drs. Kee (my radiation doc) and Chen (neurosurgeon) on Monday morning and we'll develop a plan for treatment. Best case is Dr. Kee can zap this tumor (it's about 2.3 centimeters in size) with radiation and no surgery is needed. If radiation isn't an option, then we talk about surgery. In this mix will be an adjustment to the chemo protocol (I think) and I'm guessing Dr. Karamlou is going to want more full body scans to be sure this "cancer road trip" hasn't stopped somewhere else we don't know about.
I must say, these doctors are on it....I had the scan and MRI late in the afternoon on NYE and Dr. Takahashi (the on call oncologist) was on the phone with me at noon yesterday. He had already been in touch with both Drs. Kee and Chen to get things scheduled for Monday and had my latest prescription ready to be called into the pharmacy. All this on a holiday weekend. When I hear people talk about unresponsive doctors or having to wait days or weeks to hear from their medical team, I am so grateful for the good care I am receiving.
One big question I had was how can I be healing in one part of my body, have the other two areas stabilized and then have another tumor show up somewhere else? That's the mystery on metastasis......I was told months ago that cancer, once it gets in the blood stream (lymph system) is like a car on a road trip that, unfortunately, no one knows where it's going or where/when it will stop. This tumor is another aggressive one....it didn't show up on the last scan and now, here it is.
The good news is there are treatment options and I am feeling really good, strong both physically and emotionally, and ready to take on this newest development. I cried my tears long and hard after hanging up the phone yesterday and dreaded another round of suck phone calls to my family. There was a short period of just feeling too exhuasted to think about this latest tumor and all it's implications and after some time in deep prayer, was fully renewed in His strength. Thank you, God, for the peace and comfort. I got off the couch, threw off the pity party mood and said "The heck with this, I'm going with friends to see a George Clooney movie"....what better way to restore my spirits than to gaze adoringly at him on screen :) And for what's it worth, "Up In the Air" is really a good movie.
My Christmas holiday was absolutely wonderful and I hope your's was too. It was low key and close to home with a few surprises thrown in....a very dear friend from SD and her husband showed up for a surprise visit and it was wonderful to spend time together. That's her, Tricia, in the photo. We've known each other since 1985 and the friendship just gets sweeter every year. My niece, Kelli, came to Portland to celebrate NYE with college friends and stayed with me for a couple of days. We had a good time together and she loved our other surprise.....a snow storm on Tuesday. Completely unexpected and as a result, a traffic nightmare for many but it sure was fun to watch her get so excited with the snow and send photos to all her friends. Portland does rain well, but snow? Not so much. It's been a time of rest, relaxation, reading, movies, friends, laughter, a project or two here and there, great food and wonderful celebrations. I've enjoyed every minute of it!
Not sure what this treatment for the neck tumor will mean for the rest of the teaching year. I'll know more Monday and will go from there. Clearly, I'll have to take time off for radiation and/or recovery from surgery but I am praying that I will still get to finish the school year with the kids. God knows my heart and my passion for my kiddos and I pray I can quickly return to the classroom. May be in a neck brace this time around, but that's ok, I can deal with that.
Please continue to pray with me and pray hard for recovery as the next step of the journey begins. It's been a long haul, but I am still fighting this cancer with everything I have and am determined to come through it healed. Still too much to do! I'll update as soon as I can after Monday to let you all know the next steps.
Love and hugs and Happy New Year!
Susan
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