Monday, April 28th, 2008 -- The Biopsy Results

Dear Bloggy,

Well, what a month it has been!! I am worn out, emotionally... and I think physically. There's nothing like 4 weeks of fear to drain a girl of energy.

But, let me get to the point. Mimi, Jo and I went to my appt. with Dr. Sharlene Gill (oncologist). When she came in, she sat down close to me and made some small talk about how she knew this waiting had been hard on me and how was I doing? She then explained the procedure and how the radiologist had used the fine needle to take different samples of cells from the tumour, but had to be careful that he did not open it up in any way so cells could escape, should they be malignant.

The cells that he took did test positive for cancer. My heart and stomach dropped and I really did think I was going to faint. But, Sharlene held my hands and said, "Cheryl, I have a plan that I'd like to go over with you, so don't panic."

She has spent time this week conferring with other specialists, surgeons, colleagues, etc. and they have gone over the PET scan, all the CAT scan images, the biopsy results, etc. and all agree that since the cancer is localized in the adrenal growth, the recommendation is to surgically remove the gland and the growth. Sharlene is referring me to Dr. Menghetti at VGH on an emergency basis (his secretary called me when I got home and I have an appointment to see him this Thursday) and he will do the surgery. He is going to see if he can do it laparoscopically , which would be less invasive and the recovery time would be much faster.

Then, once I have healed from this surgery, Dr. John Yee (remember, he was the Thoracic surgeon I met and really liked and would do the surgery on the lung), said if the adrenal growth was taken care of, then yes, he would go ahead with the lung surgery.

Sooooo, it means two surgeries but I am so excited!!! We now have a plan!! And the fact that this adrenal growth is malignant, it does not mean it's a death sentence... so I am jumping up and down for joy right now.

I am going out for dinner with my friend, Doug, to celebrate... not to mention, I haven't been able to eat much for the last few weeks and now I'm starving :D

So thank you, thank you, thank you all for your positive thoughts and support. Ok, so it turns out it wasn't benign, but all that positive energy gave me the option of a plan, which was not an option at the last appointment.

We will definitely be having a Celebration party... but I'll have to wait to see what's happening with the surgery dates. We may have to have the Celebration party after the surgeries... but celebrate we will!!!

Ciao for now!!

Cheryl