A lot has/is happening - mostly good! Check all this out...
Matt underwent the much-anticipated PET scan yesterday (Monday) morning at Methodist and all went well. Check out photos right of the dye that was injected into him in its radioactive/protective case (that weighed 16 lbs evidently!). Also, of course, there is a photo of Matt and the machine (although no photos of the nice tech who worked with us - we are slipping on the photo
front!). While granted I did not have to go through the hour of being intravenously fed radioactive material, I do have to say it was kind of funny: the tech told Matt he would be radioactive for about 18 hours or so, and to stay away from pregnant women and small children. (Seriously!)
Matt spoke with Dr. W (he is sooooo cool) later in the day and the news back on the scan is good although a bit frustrating: there is no primary evident in the scan. This is positive as it rules out any issues with his lungs (Cathy is very relieved) and confirms the cancer is microscopic e.g. no other nodes or areas have measurable (bigger than 1 cm) cancer. The frustrating part is it - potentially - means the general radiation is what they are going to recommend, to be sure to get the primary wherever it is residing.
Dr. W - as well as a subsequent call with Dr. C from the U of MN - did confirm: Matt for sure needs to have his tonsils out, and thoroughly biopsied, as a last ditch attempt to see if the cancer is coming from there. I think that surgery is tentatively scheduled for a week from Friday, Dec. 4, FYI.
We also talked to the U of MN team about the Tumor Board result. No huge surprises there but still nice to hear from them: they say too, get the tonsils out. Also they support Dr. C's recommendation of a couple weeks ago, that Matt should get concurrent chemotherapy with the radiation. Hmm. We are still not too sure (mostly because we don't fully understand it yet) about this whole chemotherapy gig. Thank GOODNESS we are going to Mayo tomorrow (as we will be able to get more information and thinking about all, from them).
Also yesterday Matt had a great visit with an oral surgeon, Dr. Ha (if there can be such a thing as "a great visit" when teeth and Matt are involved). Evidently he was very helpful on a number of fronts and has had experience with radiation, etc. He too is recommending Matt get his wisdom and possibly his back molars out and said he would talk to Dr. W about how best to coodinate that (it's two different type of procedures involving two different kinds of drs/surgeons). He also highly recommended Dr. O - who we are seeing tomorrow at the Mayo, and said he was top-
notch and exactly who we should be seeing. Nice affirmation there! Meet Dr. Ha to the left.
So...We are a bit further along the path and that much closer to knowing what treatment will look like - yeah. After the Mayo visit tomorrow (we will post) we will be in a good place to have a better sense of 'what next' which will be able to be further defined, decided and set in motion with our Monday, Nov 30 appointment with Dr. W, our quarterback.
We (well, Cathy anyway) are also starting to be able to see to the other side of treatment. We know that some of December and all of January are going to be really hard and potentially hard hard hard for Matt (and will be tapping some of you for help!) but there is a tiny light on the other side, which is where we will land....Phew.
More after tomorrow...happy Turkey day to all. :-)
Matt underwent the much-anticipated PET scan yesterday (Monday) morning at Methodist and all went well. Check out photos right of the dye that was injected into him in its radioactive/protective case (that weighed 16 lbs evidently!). Also, of course, there is a photo of Matt and the machine (although no photos of the nice tech who worked with us - we are slipping on the photo
front!). While granted I did not have to go through the hour of being intravenously fed radioactive material, I do have to say it was kind of funny: the tech told Matt he would be radioactive for about 18 hours or so, and to stay away from pregnant women and small children. (Seriously!)Matt spoke with Dr. W (he is sooooo cool) later in the day and the news back on the scan is good although a bit frustrating: there is no primary evident in the scan. This is positive as it rules out any issues with his lungs (Cathy is very relieved) and confirms the cancer is microscopic e.g. no other nodes or areas have measurable (bigger than 1 cm) cancer. The frustrating part is it - potentially - means the general radiation is what they are going to recommend, to be sure to get the primary wherever it is residing.
Dr. W - as well as a subsequent call with Dr. C from the U of MN - did confirm: Matt for sure needs to have his tonsils out, and thoroughly biopsied, as a last ditch attempt to see if the cancer is coming from there. I think that surgery is tentatively scheduled for a week from Friday, Dec. 4, FYI.
We also talked to the U of MN team about the Tumor Board result. No huge surprises there but still nice to hear from them: they say too, get the tonsils out. Also they support Dr. C's recommendation of a couple weeks ago, that Matt should get concurrent chemotherapy with the radiation. Hmm. We are still not too sure (mostly because we don't fully understand it yet) about this whole chemotherapy gig. Thank GOODNESS we are going to Mayo tomorrow (as we will be able to get more information and thinking about all, from them).
Also yesterday Matt had a great visit with an oral surgeon, Dr. Ha (if there can be such a thing as "a great visit" when teeth and Matt are involved). Evidently he was very helpful on a number of fronts and has had experience with radiation, etc. He too is recommending Matt get his wisdom and possibly his back molars out and said he would talk to Dr. W about how best to coodinate that (it's two different type of procedures involving two different kinds of drs/surgeons). He also highly recommended Dr. O - who we are seeing tomorrow at the Mayo, and said he was top-
notch and exactly who we should be seeing. Nice affirmation there! Meet Dr. Ha to the left.So...We are a bit further along the path and that much closer to knowing what treatment will look like - yeah. After the Mayo visit tomorrow (we will post) we will be in a good place to have a better sense of 'what next' which will be able to be further defined, decided and set in motion with our Monday, Nov 30 appointment with Dr. W, our quarterback.
We (well, Cathy anyway) are also starting to be able to see to the other side of treatment. We know that some of December and all of January are going to be really hard and potentially hard hard hard for Matt (and will be tapping some of you for help!) but there is a tiny light on the other side, which is where we will land....Phew.
More after tomorrow...happy Turkey day to all. :-)
Thinking of you!
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