Short and Sweet (and some not so sweet)
Tests done, and here are the findings:
1) There is a lesion on my left kidney, 2.9 cm. Will need an ultrasound. If it's fluid filled it's just a cyst. If not... well, we aren't going there right now. I don't feel worried.
2) I have a fatty liver.
Me: The report says fatty infiltration, does that mean I have "some" or does it mean I do indeed, have a fatty liver, am I "there."
Dr.: You HAVE a fatty liver.
Me: I know there are a lot of contributing factors to fatty liver, which includes the methotrexate I take, and chemotherapy, and radiation, and... and... and...
Dr.: In your case it was the chemo and methotrexate. You do not have to feel guilty over this, it was brought on by your chemo.
(he leans in to me)
You need to stop all alcohol intake.
Me: (chuckle) Dude, I drink 4-6 beers I never finish, in a year. That is not an issue.
The discussion from there included diet, types of foods, and watch the types of fats I take in. I have to stop any further Tylenol usage. Dang. I take it 3 times a day to help with the arthritis... but okay. Done. I can, and am very able to make these changes... because otherwise, fatty liver turns into cirrhosis. Not having that if I can help it!!!
I have much reading and research to do, who knew this would happen... but really, just continuing to eat healthier will help reduce or possibly take care of this... I hope. <- That's a really big hope.
I'm cool, seriously. Going back to the plant based diet which I was halfway on anyway.
The good news is all my blood work is good and that includes the cancer tumor markers and antigens.
In conclusion, my whole life of the past 3 years has been about hope, really, freaking, hard, hope. Not a bad place to be I think.
Freaking fatty liver... fuck that. <grumble, grumble>
I saw a new Oncologist yesterday.
The reasons for this were because when it all began I was living in Aberdeen and working in Lacey, my Oncologist was in between by design. There always seemed to be issues getting information to my PCP even though all the releases were there... Now I live in DuPont and the new Oncologist is with a large hospital organization that uses the Epic system for patient records. I'm going to be switching everything to them so info going back and forth is not an issue any longer. Whew. That said...
I love my new Oncologist. Male, a very affable individual. He sat down with the equivalent of 3 1/2 inches of records, and said he did his homework. I pulled out my notebook I keep, of all the tests I've had since the beginning. He said he had more, funny. However, please note, I did supply him with one test (Bone Scan) he didn't have!
He had questions to fill holes in my care... I'll get back to that one. First he acknowledged the tumor I had was a little unusual in that it was small to begin with, but loaded, as in:
Estrogen Receptor Positive
Progesterone Receptor Positive
HER2 Positive
This is not rare, but not exactly common either. It does bump up cancer recurrence, that, and the other cancer I had (aggressive).
Okay, moving along... he asked about follow-up surgeon visits. I didn't know about that. I was clear it didn't mean I wasn't told to do this, I just didn't remember that was something I had to do! It is apparently a "standard" of cancer care, and of course now I'm wondering why I was not prompted to do this. We talked about surgery, potential mastectomy in the beginning. I told him I wanted the mastectomy but my surgeon, needed me to be "systemically treated as soon as possible." We would discuss mastectomy after. I also told him that it was my intention to do this and the Radiation Oncologist talked me out of it, said it was "just not done." I believed him at the time, I learned since that was just not true. I should also have been getting yearly Bone Scans. Hmmm...
The new Oncologist wrinkled his nose (small, not intended to be seen, but I can see those micro expressions). It's been 2 1/2 years since the initial surgery.
Next came the exam. This is where I share that about a month ago I found a very tender lump in my armpit. Well, more between the side of the breast and my armpit. He tried to feel it but it's just too painful. He continued his exam (or tried to) but my entire right breast is so, so very painful. It always has been. In my defense I've done a lot of reading on this subject due to overactive second guessing. It's not uncommon to have breast pain for the rest of your life. It could also be Radiation changes that seem ongoing and surprising all the time. Schneikies! He mentioned too that sometimes when removing lymph nodes that nerves can be affected. I don't think that's the case here.
I could tell though, that this was a little beyond that. I mentioned my mammograms were due. He shook his head. No. We talked about other body parts and functions. More nose wrinkling.
The other thing... damn, damn, damn... I have a spot on my face that is now on the watch list. First I thought it was an age spot, now over the course of a few months it's getting lighter all around it (crop circle on my face!), and the texture is changing. He asked if the freckles on my face were intensified after the Chemo. Yes, they were. Something else to look up.
The plan: first, I'm doing a Bone Scan, a CT Scan of the pelvis, abdomen, and chest with contrast (oh, joy). He needs to see what's going on, and so does the surgeon he's referring me to. I'll see both of them next month after the scan and we'll go from there.
I left feeling... that there was so much he didn't say. But, really, how could he? We need more info.
