Le Panda Needs a Rib Biopsy
Hands That Care: This is a portrait of the CT scan tech’s hand on the CT scanner I was about to jump in.
This sucks, guys.
I had a PET scan on June 20th and something lit up on my rib #2 which was concerning. It appeared on my December PET scan but they thought it was something post-operative from my mastectomy I had had the month prior. They decided it was time to get a CT scan of my chest on July 3rd to look more closely at it.
Yesterday I learned the results of that test and now they want to do a biopsy of that rib because I have bone loss. This is basically the pathway to find out if the cancer has spread or not and to figure out what is causing the bone loss.
I was hoping that the PET scan was going to be clear after I’ve spent the last year of my life doing various chemos, immunotherapies, lymph node removal and had a mastectomy to try to beat this metaplastic carcinoma. Oh ya, I forgot to mention the 25 days of radiation, too.
I don’t have the biopsy scheduled yet. The pathology from the biopsy will reveal the truth so we continue this emotionally draining waiting game.
Emotionally, I am experiencing anticipatory grief surrounding this rib thing. The signs are pointing towards the direction that this is possibly a met (metastasis) and I don’t have a good feeling about it. My family and I are sad about this and some of us are angry and disappointed.
The good thing about the rib lesion is that it hasn’t changed much since it first showed up in December. Whatever that has started happening there, it isn’t happening at a lightening speed.
For those interested, here is what the radiologist wrote:
My doctor said the nodule in my lung is tiny and new and too risky to biopsy. She said it could be inflammation and that we will just watch that.
In other news, I’ve developed lymphadema in the arm where they removed the 3 lymphnodes which is also a bummer. Basically, my arm is swollen with lymph fluid because I’m a few nodes down. Addressing this entails physical therapy, lymphatic massages and a compression bandage.
Some good news! Yesterday was the last day of the 4-month chemo regimen I’ve been on! I am excited to reduce the number of hours in the chair (the infusion chair), be able to start growing my hair out and hopefully reduce the fatigue and other sides effects.
I will continue with the immunotherapy. That is every 3 weeks,
Hands That Care: Port Draw
Before each infusion, they access my port and draw blood. I love my port. It means they don’t have to poke with needles every week in my arms. I have some lidocaine that I rub on my skin before each appointment and that numbs the area on my chest where they poke me to access my port so it doesn’t hurt at all most of the time and sometimes just a little.
Hands that Care: Connecting the Chemo
This is an infusion nurse, Virginia, connecting the tube that is connected to the chemo bag to the tube that is connected to my port. This is when the party gets started.
A big thank you to the friends and family that emotionally supported me yesterday. It was a hard day for me an I’m sure for you, too, to some degree. I love you all very much.