Another week, another day

You know I've made it clear in my previous blogs that I don't have much faith in PET scans. I just had one in April and
"all was well". Well, I found out last week that I will be having surgery on Thursday to remove another place in my neck. It either comes up just that fast or it was way too small to detect in April. I don't know.

Anyway, after noticing something different for about 3 weeks in a different part of my neck, I got it checked out. I called my radiation oncologist's nurse last Monday. She asked me if I could come right in. I did. My dr. ordered a CT scan and I went right then for it. It was a contrast dye scan from neck to pelvis. The only thing that showed up as abnormal was the place in my neck. All else was normal. PTL

He had me return to his office as soon as I had the scan done. After he had pulled up the scan on his computer, he called me into his office to show it to me. He said it definitely looked like a lymph node was involved. He called my surgeon in B'ham and talked to him as I sat in his office. It was pretty neat to hear him explaining to him in their medical terms exactly where it was, and..."When can you see her this week?" My surgeon said Friday at 11, but he, also, wanted me to have an ultrasound guided needle biopsy. So I had that done on Tuesday. I got the results on Thursday that it was consistent with squamous cell carcinoma like I have had in my mouth and neck. After seeing my surgeon on Friday, I am on the line-up at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday to have surgery in B'ham. We will leave early that morning, and I will stay overnight as I always have.

It is the consensus of both of my doctors to start radiation on this area about 3 weeks after surgery. It is in a place that has not been radiated before. All of my previous tumors have been on the right side of my mouth and neck. This one is actually on the left. It is just at the bottom of my throat in the center where the two collarbones can be felt. It is like behind the tip of the left clavicle. I will most likely continue with the Erbitux treatments, but I will have to see my medical oncologist to see what he thinks.

I anticipate God's faithfulness in showing His full and complete sovereignty in yet another trial He has allowed. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I will most certainly share with you whatever my God shares with me. You know, God working in our lives is what we need to hear from each other to give the hope and encouragement of a living God. I would love to hear from you.