It has been almost two months since we noticed the tumor on
the side of Rob’s neck. What a couple of
months this has been! Many have asked
for an update and so I will do my best to bring everyone up to date - as to
where we are at now. I would like to
say first of all how much it means to us to know so many are praying! Knowing that so many of you are going to God
on our behalf has brought great comfort and we know God has walked through
these difficult weeks with us. Thank you
so much for your love, concern and prayers for us!
When we went into the first surgeon to get the results from
the first biopsy that they did on the tumor we were told that Rob had cancer
and that it was either Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer or Medullary Thyroid Cancer
(two terms we had never heard of before that day). The surgeon told us that she was not equipped
to handle the care that Rob would need and that he needed a surgeon that could
work with a team approach. She also pulled
strings to get us into see an endocrine surgeon that had a waiting list way out
past October. She got us in to see her
the next day. She was concerned – and that was of a concern
to us too! We went home and researched
these two types of cancer. We realized
that if the cancer proved to be Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer we were very likely
dealing with possibility that this could be the last year that we would be
together as a family. Talk about a paradigm
shift!
When we got into the surgeon the next day she said she had
been reviewing the pathology reports - (they had sent them to three different
pathologists). The endocrine surgeon
told us that she was 99.9% sure it was NOT Anaplastic Thyroid cancer and 99%
sure it was Medullary Cancer. The complications
with the medullary cancer are that it spreads throughout the body and is only
able to be stopped by removing the actual tumors that appear. She told us that Rob would undergo blood
tests every four months for the rest of his life to detect the C cell counts in
the body. When the C cell counts were
elevated we would know that there was cancer growing somewhere in the
body. She then ordered blood work to
measure his C cells to find out if we had cancer that had spread outside of the
thyroid. Before we left her office she did
a biopsy on his Lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread to the nodes in the
neck. She was concerned with what she
saw on the ultrasound when she looked at the lymph nodes. She scheduled surgery for four weeks out .
Two weeks before the surgery the surgeon called and said she
had just received the blood test results and was shocked at what they were
showing. Rob’s C cells were not elevated
– in fact his C Cell count was almost nonexistent. She said that ruled out completely that the
tumor was Medullary Cancer. She said she
could not believe what the tests had shown because she was sure that was what
we were up against. She also told us
that all three pathologists were in disagreement with what they were finding
through the biopsy. The only thing that
they agreed on was that they were finding Hurthel Cells in the tumor (another
term that we had never heard of). She
told us that they only way for us to know what we were up against was to wait
until she opened him up to see what she found, remove the tumor. She said that with Hurthel Cells there is a
20% chance that it will be cancerous.
We felt like we were on a bungee cord. Two weeks before we had been told that Rob
could be dying soon – and now we were told that there was more chance that it
was NOT cancer. We wanted answers but
the only thing we could do was to wait for two more weeks until the surgery
date came. That was a very difficult time
for our emotions.
Last Friday finally got here and Rob was taken into surgery
with the surgeon telling us that she would feel more comfortable telling us
that we were looking at a 40% chance that the tumor was cancerous. The pathologist had reviewed the biopsies again
and felt the risk was greater than first expected. She also told me that she
would check the lymph nodes; but that Hurthel Cell Cancer rarely moved into the
lymph nodes. For a second I was
overwhelmed with joy – until she finished her sentence informing us that
Hurthel Cell Carcinoma moves to the brain, the lungs or the bones. (When she finished her sentence I was brought
back to reality.) I kissed Rob goodbye as they wheeled him into
the operating room and went out to wait for the surgery to be completed. It was a long wait and I am so thankful for
the friends that came and sat with me during that time! Thank you!
Two hours later the surgeon talked with me in the consult
room. The tumor was “very large” but she
was able to get it all out. The other
side of the thyroid had looked “sticky” and she removed the entire thyroid because
it just did not look right (a decision we had made before the surgery to avoid
them having to do surgery again to remove the other half of the thyroid if they
found cancer). The tumor had grown into
the muscle of the neck causing her to have to remove that muscle. She assured me it was not a muscle that he
would miss now that the thyroid was gone.
She said she was concerned that the parathyroid glands looked “wrong” so
she removed two of them . She said that
she might have taken three of glands – because she thought one was behind the
muscle; but that he could live with one out of the four glands if she did.
She said that she did not want to mess with the glands and have cancer
spread to other parts of the neck if they were indeed cancerous. She said that the lymph nodes looked good and she did not remove them because they did not look suspicious. She
said that it was of concern that the tumor was attached to the muscle – but we
would not know anything until the biopsy results were back. She told me she could guarantee me that we were
not looking at Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer.
She then told me that she would think that we were looking at a 50%
chance that the tumor was Cancerous and may have spread. She assured me that she would call with the
results of the pathology report as soon as she received them.
That was a week ago today.
We are still waiting and trusting that God has everything under control. We still do not know what the future holds –
but we did not really know that a year ago.
I will admit that every time the phone rings I brace myself before I
look at the caller ID to see who is calling.
We could get a call that tells us that this trial is over – the tumor is
gone and there is not cancer in Rob’s body.
We could get a call telling us that the tumor was cancerous and has
spread; and we will be facing more decisions and more waiting time. I feel like we are hanging between two extremes.
Rob has had complete and total peace throughout this entire
time. If he has been anxious about any
of this - I have not seen it. I have
felt anxious at time more than I can express in a blog post. I have found God’s Word to offer me
peace. The Holy Spirit has brought calmness
to my heart that has been amazing.
Focusing on the faithfulness of God has made me feel that my life is on
sure footing. Nothing is out of control
and I can trust that everything is going to be OK - no matter what. When my mind focuses on cancer or on the
future - there is anxiety. When I focus on God - there is peace.
So we wait for the results and remind ourselves that our God
is bigger than cancer and has our lives in His hand and in His control. Thanks for praying for us! God has been so close to us and we have come
to know Him in a most personal way in the past eight weeks. He is good – all the time. Rob is recovering well and we have not had any setbacks. Today he went into work - he will just be doing paperwork and we will see how the day goes. He was excited to get back to work. He was getting a bit stir crazy here at the house. :) We will keep posting as we have information - thanks for your concern and prayers for us at this time. We are blessed to have so many friends. Thank you!
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