blessed_patty
Update
Dec 21, 2008
after many ct's and mri's, the doctors say there is no mass on my pancreas. a pancreas is supposed to be shaped like a line. mine is shaped like a "J" and is prominent. dr. a saw the hook end of the "j" and thought it was a mass. the odd shape is not a problem, but it's not normal either and that's why it looked odd to dr. a.
there is a small spot on my liver. instead of performing surgery to determine if it is malignant, my oncology sugeon wants to follow me for 1-2 years to make sure it doesn't grow. he believes it to be benign, but wants to make me drink that yummy contrast every 3 months to be sure.
but...
during all the tests, they found a large nodule in my left thyroid and a small nodule with a calcium deposit in the right. my family has a history of thryoid issues and i've been hypo myself since 2002. i told my oncology surgeon, "wouldn't be funny if i went to mexico for wls only to find out my thyroid is even more messed up than i thought?" well, i guess it is.
they did a biopsy of the large nodule, which came back indeterminate. so now they have to take the whole thing out, freeze it and slice it to see if it is malignant or not. since the other side of the thyroid is not healthy, my endo and thryoid surgeon have recommended the whole thryoid come out. at first, i thought no way, i can't afford to gain anymore weight!!! after prayer though, i've decided it's the right thing to do and i need to let God worry about the aftermath :).
so after some really scary days thinking i had pancreatic cancer, the future is much brighter. even if it is thryoid cancer, it is very treatable. usually you just take it out (which i'm already doing) and maybe some radiation treatments. my surgery is scheduled for 2/24/08.
oh and btw - for those thinking about dr. alvarez - he has been wonderful. i've kept in contact with him through email all this time. his response time has always been within a couple of hours, if not minutes. he's told me that he has continued to pray for me, which has really meant a lot. if i were to ever have the surgery, i would absolutely go back to him without reservation.
