Well, before I get to the results, I should provide a little background as to what exactly we knew going up to NYC and what we hoped to hear. We knew that the adrenal masses (one on each) were "not viable". As it were explained to us, not viable means that they were not considered functioning tumors. There were still cancer cells present, but the chemo had done it's job. That really was the most important element to the progress we had made. The adrenals were and are going to be the more complicated of the two surgeries.
This morning, we met with the oncologist who was working with Dr. B, our bff/oncologist in Jacksonville. she entered the room very positive, and excited saying that we had made good progress. Then she sat down after examining me and said, "Well, there doesn't appear to be very much change in your adrenal masses." I can't tell you how blown away we were and crushed, really. She went on to explain that with no change, she didn't see our surgeon going on with the surgery, but she of course would let him decide that.
Karen and I walked down the block to soak up our sorrow in a sandwich...or in Karen's case, a sandwich and some chips...and some gummy bears. We returned to the Sloan for our 1:45 appointment with the surgeon. We are called back at 4:00 to meet with him. He comes in and says, "Well, your adrenals look great and your arm mass has shrunk as well." Blown away, yet again, we say in unison, "But this morning the oncologist said that there was no change and that we had been misinformed". I know what you are thinking. "That's a lot to say in unison" but hey, it happened. He replied, "Yes, I heard about this morning. She made an honest mistake when reading the forms." I don't have time to get angry over this sort of thing. I honestly was so stoked that everything was going according to plan that not one negative thought has crossed my mind since hearing the good news.
The surgeon went on to say that the chemotherapy treatment was going so well that he did not want to operate...yet. He said, "I don't want to stop now...we have the cancer on the run". So he said that we WILL have the surgery in 8 weeks...2 cycles more. While it wasn't the news I was wanting to hear, after going through what we did today, I will take it. We are heading home tomorrow to see our reason for being (HARPER) and I will be back on chemo this Tuesday. It really does work out better in that we have a scheduled date for surgery and we can plan this whole thing out before we get here...unlike this time.
So, thank you all for your prayers and "good vibes". There was a period of about 5 hours when I cursed all of your for either lying or not doing those things hard enough or without rolling your eyes after doing so. Now that I realize you were true to your word, I say thanks and we love you.
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