Today’s visit with Dr. Loukas was pleasant. In short, Maggie’s scans were exactly what we had hoped. Let’s give a little hurray for that and celebrate small victories. The tumors have decreased in size since last time and the MRI of her brain showed no sign of disease (while there was evidence of the crazy.) However, her visit with the OBGYN today had an unexpected and chilling outcome.
Dr. Nancy Binford found a small lump in Maggie’s breast. Dr. Binford was clear that the discovery was significant enough to require additional testing but was also clear that it might just be a cyst. Or it could be a small tumor. At this time we just don’t have enough information. Tomorrow she’s scheduled for both an ultrasound and a mammogram. Dr. Loukas verified the lump, which was a slightly uncomfortable moment for me. At worst, Dr. Loukas believes that a lumpectomy might be required but to jump to such a conclusion was extremely premature and somewhat overstating the risks. Statistically, it’s likely that the lump is simply a cyst that needs some attention and nothing more.
Regardless, the day has been colored with memories of our other early misdiagnosis. Maggie has been upset pretty much all day. When I met her at The Spa, her beautiful brown eyes were watery and sad. Even my best attempts at humor fell flat. One fear that Maggie had was that she would have to endure two chemo treatments simultaneously, one for colon cancer and one for breast cancer. Dr. Loukas cleare that up – there’s no such thing as “two simultaneous chemo treatments.” In an unexpectedly sobering statement, he said that of the issues we are dealing with right now, a small breast cancer tumor is more just an irritant than a real problem worth worrying about. We apparently have much bigger, much more deadly fish to fry.
So… all that crap aside, I’m about to engage on what I like to call The Best Part Of My Day. It’s the part where I slide up next to my wife, take hold of her hand, and chit-chat about her day.
Soooo … we say “Thank you, God!” and then keep on praying. Keep your chin up, Maggie! Keep thinking good thoughts! We love you …..
You’re in my prayers!
Quick update – Maggie had a mammogram and ultrasound of her breast yesterday which indicated that her breast lump is benign. Her ob/gyn is recommending that she meet with a surgeon for evaluation of possibly doing a needle aspiration of the lump to completely rule out cancer. her doctor said there is still a 10% chance that it could be malignant and she would send anyone in this situation to the surgeon, it is not just because Maggie already has a cancer diagnosis.
Also, I don’t know the statistics offhand, but the chance of someone having two primary cancers at the same time at the age of 32 has got to close to 0%. Colon cancer does not metastasize into the breast tissue. I feel very confident that this is nothing more than a breast cyst that would otherwise cause a slight scare, but will turn out to be nothing.
I hope you’re feeling a lot better today. Sorry for the scares this week. I love you both and congratulations Chris. You made it and you still have all the hair you went in with.
Maggie, I was (this past semester) a student in Carrie’s class. I have read every post and am praying for you. How blessed you are to be surrounded by not only the world’s most wonderful husband, but family and friends most people only dream of…it is a true testament to the woman that you are. You make me want to be a better person and I don’t even know you personally. Keep your eyes on the purpose of life and live it. God Bless YOU, Bobbie
So glad the results of the latest scans are good, but sorry about the scare. As always, Scott and I are praying and hope to see you very soon. 🙂