Today I reviewed my MRI results with Dr. Woolf. Essentially the results indicate the tumor is discreet and there isn’t any involvement yet with my lymph glands below my jaw. This is good. It also means that the suggested radiation and chemo treatment made by Dr. Woolf would still be valid with surgery not being likely.
The tumor is not in my parapharyngial space as originally thought, but more localized to the area around my right tonsil. In terms of the TNM (Tumor, Node, Metastasis) system, my tumor is rated as a T2 N0 M0 S2, or stage II tumor, size being a 2, with no metastasis and no lymph involvement at this point. It’s about an inch or so in diameter, maybe a bit larger.
Dr. Woolf is recommending that I be seen by the Stanford Medical Center’s Tumor Board for a collective assessment and treatment plan. The Stanford Tumor Board consists of “specialists from Surgery, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Radiology and Pathology that evaluate and discuss patients for whom a multidisciplinary approach is being considered.” He’s not sure Blue Cross will allow this yet, but said he’ll push for it to be covered. Sounds like a good idea to me, since this would take the idea of a second opinion even farther.
I had my MRI today. It was scheduled at the Northbay imaging center in Fairfield. Still hard to believe I’m having to do this, but overall it was an interesting experience. Thank goodness I’m not claustrophobic, because once you’re in the big donut, it’s very tight quarters. And loud. 45 minutes of being absolutely motionless went by suprisingly quick. We’ll see what the results are with Dr. Woolf in a day or two.
After the crappy news last night, I headed back to Dr. Woolf’s office today for full biopsy where he carved some chunks out of this tumor and will send them to the lab.
This was much worse than the needle biopsy, but fortunately I didn’t feel any pain during the procedure. More burnt banana spray taste and then, UGH! Denise was pretty shocked about what she saw, sitting there in the office with me. She’s really incredible being here with me. Without being too graphic, he simply scalpeled out 4-5 chunks of the tumor and pulled them out using what looked like a fancy set of needle nose pliers. I just know this is going to hurt later.
And it did.
Dr. Woolf told me what I had was what he termed “imminently curable” through radiation and possibly chemo. Apparently this type of cancer is very sensitive to radiation. And just to be sure, surgery might be recommended but it’s too early to tell.
Cancer.
There, I’ve said it, and I can’t pretend that’s not what I just heard from my doctor. That word simply is very hard to say out loud. I feel like if I don’t give voice to the word, it would simply sneak back into the corner where it should stay. Cowboy up, Guyle.
Dr. Woolf called me today and told me the results from the needle biopsy were conclusive for squamous cell carcinoma. I just about fell out of my chair for about 2 seconds when I heard that. Felt a little like I was dreaming it. So now he wants me to come back to the office for a more formal biopsy.
I had to tell Denise just after I got off the phone. It’s so surreal to have to tell her, the Doctor says I have cancer. I guess I said it a little too casually. “Don’t even kid about that, dont!”, she tells me. I’m not kidding. Tears. For both of us. Just for maybe a few minutes though, before we both gird ourselves and start talking about … the road ahead.
I had my follow up appointment at NorthBay today and my 10 days worth of penicillin have done nothing to reduce the swelling in my throat. The nurse practitioner informed me the other swab of my throat was also negative for strep throat, so he has recommended I go see a specialist named Dr. Woolf in Fairfield.
I went along with Denise to see Dr. Woolf in Fairfield the same day. He examined my throat for a while and decided to perform a needle biopsy to take sample that could be examined by a local lab. This is where it started being uncomfortable. He sprayed a substance into my throat that tasted like burnt bananas and that was supposed to numb things back there. It did. He also sprayed a numbing mist into my nostril so he could route a small remotely controlled camera down my throat to assess the swelling, (which he now referred to as a tumor). Once he was able to determine the tumor was not down into my throat, but was more confined to my tonsil, he stated what I had was most likely a parapharangial space tumor. According to Dr. Woolf, most like benign, but the needle biopsy and lab results would confirm this either way.
Now came the needle. Once my throat was sufficiently numb, he stuck me about 5-6 times and smeared the extract onto some slides that would be sent away. I was able to hang in there pretty well, but when someone comes at you with a needle into your mouth, your first reaction is not “sit still”. But I did pretty well and after leaving the office and when then the numbing subsided, I was left with a reasonable amount of pain throughout the rest of the evening.
Denise was a real trooper sitting through all this with me. Talk about your front row seats! We both had a nice lunch at Red Robin after that. Hell, I deserved a great tasting cheeseburger after that ordeal.
Now we have to wait for the results. I’m encouraged that the odds are in favor for a benign tumor, but my thoughts are going in all different directions tonight. Geez, I’m only a 46 year old guy, who’s never had any real health problems and I think I take pretty good care of myself. Time now to simply sit and wait.
Social Links