Good news! The biopsy on that new lump came out clean; no cancer. Life is good…
Today I met with Doc C at the hospital Cancer Center. Doc C, my Radiologist, and I had met once before back in September before my neck and throat surgery. We needed a go-over of that meeting because so many things have been discovered or changed since that first meeting. Fortunately, while I was there, he was able to check with Doc K who did the needle biopsy last Friday to get the results. As you can imagine, hearing the good news was a big load off my nerves.
Doc Z, my Surgeon, and Doc C will have a chat this week to determine if the lump needs to be removed; cancer or no cancer. I am almost certain they are going to elect to keep an eye on it instead of removing it at this time because doing so would delay the start of chemo/radiation in late December.
I will return to the radiation center tomorrow to do a test run in the radiation machine under sedation to see if we can figure out a way to get me past my massive phobia that, at this moment, will not let me get into position and go through the upcoming daily radiation. I feel a little better about this crisis today after hearing words that assure me Doc C does indeed understands the magnitude of the problem. After our time together, he told me that a lot of patients have varying degrees of claustrophobia that challenge them during radiation. However, it is clear to him that the severity of my problem exists within only 5% of all of the people who have claustrophobia. Having lived with this almost all of my adult life, his conclusion comes as no surprise to me.
I will give a run down on the chemo/radiation treatment after I understand what is coming, when it is coming and what is it going to do to me both temporarily and permanently.
