Thursday, February 19, 2009

Cancer

Well, the scary part is over.

Back last fall, my wife had a routine medical checkup. It included having a mammogram taken. When the radiologist reviewed the films, he saw a shadow he didn't like. He discussed it with my wife and her doctor, and they all agreed that a biopsy should be performed. So in early December, she spent a morning in the surgery clinic while they stuck some needles in through the side of her breast, and snipped out bits of tissue.

Just before Christmas, we got the initial word: not cancerous. So after the holidays, they went over the results. The radiologist wasn't happy. The mass was tough, fibrous. The sample they had gotten was much smaller than he would have liked. In his experience, over 80% of masses like that proved to be cancerous. He recommended doing another, surgical, biopsy, to get a larger sample. The doctor left it up to my wife. They could go back in, or, since the test came back clean, they could wait, and watch it to see if it changed.

In my wife's opinion, it was obviously something that shouldn't be there. If they went back in, was there any reason not to remove it completely? Both her doctor and the radiologist agreed that it would be a logical thing to do.

On February 9, she spent another morning in surgery. They removed a fibroid mass with a volume of eight cubic centimeters (about the size of a golf ball). It was rather deep, right against the chest wall, so it had been very difficult to feel. This time she had a couple of incisions, about an inch or so long each, again along the outside of her breast. More painful, and much more bleeding/bruising, that the needle biopsy.

This morning, she had her initial post-op appointment. The verdict: no cancer.

7 comments:

  1. Good to hear. Too bad she had to go through an unnecessary surgery though.

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  2. Unnecessary? Well, it depends on your point of view.

    First, this fibroid mass is not part of a normal, healthy breast. As my wife said, "it doesn't belong there."

    Second, a little research shows that this particular type of growth can sit for years, benign, unnoticed, increasing in size, and then, like somebody flips a switch, it's suddenly cancerous, and spreading like wildfire.

    Better to remove it now, before that switch gets turned on....

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  3. I agree, Kevin. Mary's mom is a double survivor of cancer - mesothelioma and breast cancer.

    I'm glad for Jeanette and for you.

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  4. ah, well in that case, good that it's out of there!

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  5. I feel the need, as a woman, to provide my opinion.

    I am thrilled to hear that your beloved wife is cancer free.

    As far as fibroids go- they can be very painful. And from my personal experience, they can grow exponentially and rapidly. Good for Jeanette for being proactive and having the mass removed.

    Sending you love and prayers of a speedy full recovery.

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  6. That's good news, Kevin! Thanks for posting!

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  7. Hi Kevin.

    I'm very glad that it was not cancer.

    Actually I'm also worried with my moms case, which had a little tumor removed from her cervix. Here in Mexico the public healt system is less than mediocre an his tumor biopsy results are not ready yet (the surgery was a month ago). Yo can get a more prompt attention in non-goverment hospitals, but it very expensive and almost unaffordable for most of us...

    Anyway, we just hope for the best for her too

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