Original post 4/4/08
After the Spectacular weekend, I have to return to an ordinary week. Wednesday morning, I receive a call from the Breast Health Center to let me know that my genetic test results have come back; this is only 2½ weeks after we sent the request & tissue sample. Thank you, God! My cancer is not genetic. That is not so ordinary!
I go by myself, for blood work, for the 3rd time in a week, to “verify the accuracy of the results of the blood work a week ago,” at Dr. Patel’s office. The nurse draws the blood & packages it to send it out to an independent lab. I ask if she can tell me what is going on or if she can find someone who can tell me. She leaves & came back with Dr. Patel. He explains that a tumor marker in my blood is elevated; it should be about 40; it is 211. This may mean that I have cancer cells circulating in my blood stream that might metastasize to other parts of my body. The independent lab will analyze the blood drawn to determine whether or not this is the case, since the local hospital does not have the lab equipment to do this test. He will discuss the results at my next appointment.
When I get into my car I ask myself, “Why did I come by myself?” Then God reminds me that He promised me “this is not a death sentence.” As soon as I am reminded of this, I say to the enemy, “You’re not going to steal my peace!” I turn on our local Christian radio station & drive home singing & reminding the enemy a few more times that he is not going to steal my peace.
The next day was the P.E.T. scan, at 8am. The day before the scan you eat a high protein, low carb diet. 2 hours before the scan you drink 32 oz. of water, then you are injected with radioactive glucose; you wait for about 20 min. & are then scanned like a CT scan. Cancer cells are gluttons for sugar & absorb any form of sugar/glucose about 5 times faster than healthy cells; therefore, the cancer cells suck up the glucose, & they show up as “metabolic activity,” in different colors, which indicate the intensity of activity, where there is a high enough concentration of cancer cells that can be detected by the scanning equipment. As a result, we will now know where I have cancer cells.
The next day, Dec. 14th, I meet with Dr. Pam to discuss what I can do about my non-stop migraines. Ever since I finished the HRT they increased in frequency & severity. I am waking up every morning with a migraine, & I am still teaching 4 days a week. (Because of my history of migraines, I am never scheduled to teach a class earlier than 11am.) I bring her up to date & make sure she has copies of all my test results. She tells me she can prescribe a new medicine that may be more effective in treating the migraines. (I also make sure I put in a prayer request, on Sunday, at church, for my non-stop migraines.)
We ask her to arrange a second opinion appointment at Geisinger for us, since we have been urged by numerous friends to seek a second opinion. I also ask if she was aware of any doctor who can advise me in terms of nutrition &/or supplements to keep my immune system strong as I undergo cancer treatment. She gives me the name of Dr. Powers, who is a radiology oncologist & also runs the Powers Clinic for this specific purpose.
I tell her about the P.E.T. scan & my concern over another cancer. She says that people often get 2 different cancers in a lifetime, but the chance of having 2 different cancers at the same time is remote. She does not think it is likely that I will find the lymph nodes or nodules on the lungs are malignant. I hoped she is right. She even tries calling the hospital to get the results, but they are not yet recorded on the system. I will have to wait until our scheduled appointment with Dr. Patel, on the 27th. That’s an awful long time to wait!
Let me explain our impatience over the lengthy delay in getting to the final diagnosis & treatment by explaining the rate of growth of cancer cells. It takes 23 to 209 days for a tumor to double in size. Doubling, of course, means 1 cell becomes 2; 2 become 4; 4 become 8; 8 become 16; etc. . . . The average growth rate is approximately 100 days between doubling in size of the tumor. At this rate, it takes approximately 6 – 9 years for a tumor to reach 1 centimeter. It takes approx. 1 billion cells to form a 1 cm breast tumor. On average, most cancers have been around for 6 to 10 years before they can be felt as a lump or seen on a mammogram.
I had a 2cm breast biopsy of mere calcifications that was malignant, with no breast lump, & I know the surgeon did not get clean margins. There are still cancer cells in the breast tissue. The lymph node biopsy was over 2cm. The surgeon had a difficult time finding the lymph node; it was not a well defined, hard lump. I knew where it was because it hurt when I pushed on it. Before they put me under for surgery, the surgeon came in & asked me to help him find it; he used a permanent marker to mark the spot; then they put me out. How did I know whether or not there were more malignant lymph nodes? From mid-July to Thanksgiving was more than 100 days. We knew that any cancer cells not removed by the 2 biopsies had, by now, doubled in number, & we are not talking tens, hundreds, or even thousands of cancer cells doubling. We were guessing we’re talking billions!
Can you see why we think surgery & starting treatment is urgent? But we know we have to trust God, while letting the doctors know we are very concerned about the seemingly slow pace of the process. Whether we like it or not, we have to check out every possibility. A wrong decision could jeopardize my life.
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