October 26, 2005

Doctor's report

For those of you asking for news about my Dad, rather than write this about 18 times, I thought I'd share the details here.

When I got home from work I found an email from LW, asking what happened, and I realized that I should have heard, so I called. Mom answered Dad's cell phone from the examining room (he was delayed in surgery and was running behind), and asked me if I had any questions, and when the doctor heard that I had asked for the details of the pathology report, he actually asked Mom if he could tell me himself (of course her telling him I was a neurobiology professor helped, I'm sure...She did! I heard her). What follows is what he told me himself.

Such a cool doctor!

So here's the deal. The mass is about 2 centimeters across, and about 1.1 millimeters of it is adenocarcinoma, so it is a small lesion, and a very small percentage of it is cancer. The doctor seems to think it's just a polyp that went bad, so to speak. It's located near the junction of the bile duct and the duodenum, although I'm not sure if it is in the ampulla vater or the duodenum itself. It doesn't appear to have spread out of the intestine itself. Here's some great information on ampullary cancer. I especially like that last part about up to 90% 5-year survival rate. I am determined to be optimistic. The doctor seemed to be.

He plans a Whipple operation, which used to be a death sentence, but with laparoscopic surgery and minimally invasive techniques and specialized training, the mortality rate is about the same as other surgeries, so I'm not too worried. The doctor said he thinks it's likely that when he removes it, there won't be anything else to worry about. I'm praying that's the case

He has a PET scan scheduled for tomorrow as there are a couple of other small lesions, but they don't appear to be neoplastic, one on the liver and one on the lung. The doctor told me it's likely the former is a hemangioma and the latter is a TB scar. There's no reason to suspect they're evil. In any case, he's going to take a look while he's got Dad opened up.

Hell, by the time you get to 71 you've got all kinds of funny things going on in your body, right?

Mom will tell me more when they leave the doctor's office.

Moral of the story: Get every intestinal bleed checked out, all the way from your input to your output. Don't let the doctor say, "Oh, it's probably stress or an ulcer, here's some Nexxium". They found this tumor early because it was bleeding and they scanned him from the mouth down.

Posted by caltechgirl at October 26, 2005 05:31 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Obviously, you would have preferred a clean bill, but this is very treatable and doable. By the sound of it (and my father had colorectal cancer, but his was Stage IV when it was discovered so I'm somewhat familiar with all this), this is an early detection scenario.

If you need anything, I'm available, girlfriend.

Chin up!

Give Dad our best!

; )

Posted by: Christina at October 26, 2005 05:41 PM

Thanks for letting us know what's going on. I'll keep good thoughts for a full and speedy recovery.

Posted by: Ith at October 26, 2005 06:23 PM

Great news, CTG. That survival rate sounds absolutely wonderful. I'm glad at least now you all have some answers, and are on your way with closing this chapter in your dad's life.
Still praying!

Posted by: Amanda at October 26, 2005 07:30 PM

Best wishes to you and your family

Posted by: Bill at October 26, 2005 08:02 PM

With a skilled surgeon and loving care, it sounds like Dad will be finer n' froghair soon enough.

We'll keep good thoughts and you just holla if you need me. Kay?

xoxo

Posted by: Margi at October 26, 2005 10:55 PM

Continued good wishes & prayers for your Dad & family, CTG!!

Posted by: Marie at October 27, 2005 03:59 AM

Caltechgirl, glad to hear the situation is well in hand. I'll continue to keep your Dad and all you folks in my prayers.

Posted by: Paul Burgess at October 27, 2005 04:37 AM

Thanks for sharing. I'll be honest and admit that you lost me in the medical talk. I just hope your father pulls through and everything comes out okay.

Posted by: Contagion at October 27, 2005 05:44 AM

A friend of mine went through the Whipple just a few years ago. It wasn't the most "fun" thing ever, but she did recover just fine. Good luck to your dad!

Posted by: silvermine at October 27, 2005 07:55 AM

Dunno what the heck a Whipple surgery is, but it sounds like things aren't as bad as they can be. I sure hope so.

Posted by: Ben at October 27, 2005 10:10 AM

{hugs} THanks for sharing and I'll say a couple of prayers for you and your family.

Posted by: vw bug at October 27, 2005 04:17 PM