Our trip to Indianapolis Cancer Center yesterday to meet Dr. Robertson, a lymphoma specialists went well. He was very attentive, listened and gave it to us straight. We liked him alot.
However, the bad news is he didn't have many answers for us. First of all he says, less than 1% of all people diagnosed with cancer have Hodgkin's, then of those few people, only about 3% have Hodgkin's cancer in their abdomen, then of those it is unheard of to see it spread into the bone. Dr. Robertson said I am the only case he has ever seen to have broken out in hives.
So, since I have a very rare case of cancer, he said they have no other previous studies to compare me to. His suggestion was to have yet another biopsy on my right hip. This would be the 3rd this year. He wants a full open surgery where they slice my leg wide open so they can fully see what is going on in there. The orthopedic surgeon who took the last 4 bone core samples out of my hip during surgery last month, said there is no way my hip could withstand anymore coring.
So, our only other option is to 'wait & see.' He said we could wait another 8 weeks or so and have another PET scan & CT scan done to see if the hip area is still lighting up with abnormalities like it is now and see if it gets worse. The only bad thing he said with that is, if it is active cancer in my hip it will continue to spread during the waiting time, putting me at greater risk of being a more advanced stage when properly diagnosed.
Dr. Robertson is going to speak with my local oncologist, Dr. Browning today and discuss what they think should be done. Mark & I said, we would rather chose the 'wait & see' option if they think that is acceptable.
I will hear from Dr. Browning on their discussions today or tomorrow.
I want to thank my sister-in-law, Sandra for watching our boys for us all day yesterday while Mark & I were in Indianapolis. Thanks.
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slskenyon said...
"Wait and see" can be extraordinarily difficult when it comes to health. I must say that I have been captivated by your photo collage--I watched it long after I finished reading the post. You have had quite a journey, and you have a wonderful family.
from, skskenyon
6:25 PM
