This Tuesday was my husbands' one year anniversary of his diagnosis. It was a year ago October 30 that he was told his biopsy was positive for "adenocarcinoma of the lung".
The reality is that is seems like 2 or 3 years already; some days like it was just yesterday.
He had a follow up appointment back in Boston with the Thoracic Surgeon who had cancelled his chest surgery two weeks ago telling us that the offensive lymph node was gone! We were full of joy!! This appointment with the Oncologist was to make plans for watching out for any returns of the cancer to the now cancer free body.
The day began easily and what has become routine to us. Waking up early and driving into Boston. This day was the homecoming parade for the Red Sox so the traffic was very heavy.
Our day suddenly shifted from joyous relief to shock and confusion. The Thoracic Resident who we call Dr. Neil, came in as he usually does to get the information ready for the "real" doctor.
It was known that the surgery had been cancelled and after some simple questions I asked to see the new CAT Scan, to see how different the "lymph node" looked, not expecting to really be able to tell if it had changed. I just wanted to see it.
Dr. Neil loaded the scan into the computer. We all looked at my husbands images. It was there in front of us. The lymph node. I asked some simple questions and wondered why it seemed so"present". It was not that small and I was worried that it was still an issue. I expected him to reassure us that we didn't know what we were looking at. He rolled the image around a few different ways, looking puzzled himself. He gave a quick look at us and removed the disk and left the room.
It was almost an hour before he returned to our exam room with the surgeon at his side.
They both looked a bit frantic. We were suddenly shaken.
"It seems that this lymph node is still an issue." We were told.
"I'd like a few more tests to tell me more about it." He said.
"I want a PET Scan and a High Resolution CT scan-through the AP window." and he was gone.
WHAT?????
We walked over to our new friend Kim in scheduling. She worked tirelessly to get insurance authorization and to find a slot to fit him into the tests while we were there for the day. She managed to arrange the PET Scan at least. We quickly rushed to the next task and sat and waited patiently for our "add on" turn.
Just as the scan finished so did the parade for the Red Sox. We ran over to Dana-Farber for the late afternoon appointment with the Oncologist. He was punctual and looked serious on his arrival. My husband was preparing to tell him about the day and all of the changes in what he believed was going to be happening that day. The Oncologist interrupted and said that he had just seen the PET Scan. The one that was just done moments before. With a soft voice he
explained to us that he had seen the new scan and that the lymph node was "lighting up hot". It looked larger than it should for "normal". He was calm and reassuring but suggested that we go back over to the surgeons office and see what he wanted us to do next.
Together we marched back as we were holding back our tears and presented ourselves to the very busy surgeon again. This time he sat down and spent a little time planning the next step in the attack of the lymph node. He left us with strong fighting words and a sense of hope. We were sent back over to Kim the scheduler.
On the one year anniversary of the diagnosis we were to be told it was back........
It has taken a few days for this new twist in the journey down Cancer Road for us to settle down and get ready for the next plan of attack. I believe that we are all set to go. For the present we are looking forward to the joys of FAKE THANKSGIVING and family.
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