April 4, 2023
David had a CT scan today to check on the fluid around his liver that showed on the last scan. This scan was ordered by Dr. N so it was scheduled at Piedmont Atlanta. If the fluid around his liver was still collecting then Dr. N may need to go back and put in a drain. The scan took less than 30 minutes and we got the results about an hour later. The report showed that there was still some fluid collecting around his liver at the resection site but it was less than on the previous scan. The scan also showed “an indeterminate hypodense lesion anterior to the collection area which was not definitely seen on the prior PET/CT” (February 29). “Short term follow up is suggested”. This is concerning for us of course, and after reading this, we definitely had questions. I wanted to start calling doctors but David wanted to give them time to read the scans and reach out to us. I went into research mode, and as usual, ended up feeling even worse. Basically, it could be more cancer or it could be something from the surgery. What scares the hell out of me is that it didn’t show up on the PET at the end of February.
The next day, I reached out to Dr. B via the patient portal and a nurse responded to the message saying Dr. B read the scan and was ordering an MRI for the liver and the schedulers would reach out with a date. We already had an appointment at the end of April for a rectal MRI and the nurse stated he would try to get the two done at the same time. The date for both MRIs is now May 1. We still plan to see Dr. C on May 2 to discuss moving forward with colon surgery. Of course, all of this will be subject to what we find on the MRIs. We also heard from Dr. N’s office, and Dr. N said he would continue to watch the fluid collection, but he was not inclined to put in a drain right now. He wants to let David’s body try to absorb the fluid. Regarding the lesion, Dr. N ordered another PET CT with Dotatate scan and it has been scheduled for May 31. Insurance will only allow one every 90 days apparently.
So yet again, we are waiting to see if we will be sidelined one more time by the unpredictability of this horrible cancer. It has been some tough days for both of us. We had been looking forward to regaining some sense of normalcy and reconnecting after the six weeks of radiation and before the next possible procedure while his body was healing from the radiation side effects. David has been looking forward to the prospect of having the tumor removed once and for all. So now, with this hanging over us, any normalcy seems difficult to achieve. If anyone knows the secret to how to live life “normally” through this, I am open to those suggestions.
Meanwhile, David has been able to stop his pain medication and has been having some better days physically since the radiation is over. He has laughed more and been in better moods than he has been in a while. This makes the recent report doubly aggravating. I go to bed each night, wake up each morning, and spend most of the day whispering “it can’t be more cancer. It has to be something surgery related. Please.”
