Stitches Out & Waiting Begins

Saw Dr. W, our ENT guru, today for a follow-up appointment PLUS got those pesky stitches out of Matt's neck! (For a with-stitches photo, see bottom). Lois did the honors and a lovely job she did - check out the photo right. So Matt is now stitches free - yeah! He has to still do some 'scar' minimization with ointments, neck massage, etc. but his neck is looking great and the swelling and redness is WAY down.

We spent the bulk of our time with Dr. W asking our list o'questions (after Matt has him don some ye old Jayhawks gear. Did we happen to mention Dr. W did his residency at KU/Kansas City? Small world! Chapin, our son, is a freshman at KU right now). No surprise to all of you - we have gathered quite a few questions since last week. Nothing really huge emerged from the appointment (and as such no super great news, but no super bad news either). A couple key questions were answered though, such as....

- The infected lymph node (the "pomegranate") had already been re-tested, and there is no doubt about it: Matt does have some form of ENT/squamous (flat cell) cancer. Oh well, one can always hope....

- The node is also being tested for the HPV virus. We understand that all this really tells us, if it comes back positive, is that the cancer can be more effectively treated with radiation - oh goody (not really). We still REALLY need, want to know the source of the cancer. We should hear back on this test (HPV) in about a week or two; the samples have to be sent out.

- Yes Dr. W has put out feelers to have Matt's case presented at the Univ. of MN's "Tumor Board" (I am not making that up!). This is a group of ENT/radiation/oncologists that come together regularly to review cases. Dr. W would actually go and review all the tests and learnings with the board at the U. It will be a nice way to get other opinions about what's what, and what our best options might be. He (Dr. W) is however going to wait until after we have results of the PET scan in (see next point) before moving forward on this front as they would likely recommend that as an obvious next step anyway.

- For sure a next big step is the PET scan. This will HOPEFULLY (but still no "100%" guarantees) show where, if present, the cancer is originating from. (I'll be honest with you all: we are really worried it is in the lungs...It is not a happy feeling.) Soooo, we don't know when that appointment is going to be for but probably around Thanksgiving - we'll let you know when we know. We will get the results the next day so that is nice to know. And then 4 weeks later, we will get the lung/chest scan so hopefully then all the pieces will start to be in place. Can you all hang in there with us for 2 more months - argh?!

- Matt asked a bit more about the radiation therapy - if he opted to not have that treatment, what might happen? Dr. W thinks Matt should strongly consider the treatment - but DID say it was a choice and there are no 'givens' in all this (especially about what might happen if all the tests keeps coming back clear). He also did not seem to think the radiation therapy was quite as extreme as Dr. H, the radiologist/oncologist we saw last week, did - it does REALLY make us want that second opinion, after the PET scan comes back and before we decide exactly what to do.

- Last, after the PET scan results are in and especially if they come back clear, Dr. W did support getting a second opinion from the U of MN (which if referred our insurance covers, yeah!). So that for sure is on our list of things to do once we hear back.

So that's it for the day. I think we both are a little depressed about this all being 'real.' It's weird to sit on the couch eating dinner, as we do every night, and realize cancer is officially part of our world. Oh well, Sogra and Argos don't seem to mind - they just LUV Matt the way he is!

Matt with stitches, for posterity!