Hi
all,
Dad had his
consultation with the blood specialist yesterday afternoon. I digitally
recorded about 8 minutes of the Dr.’s discussion. I missed about the first 10
seconds. You can download the discussion, if you wish, using this
link:
The Dr. suspects
lymphoma but needs to confirm the diagnosis, type, and style of the lymphoma and
has recommended a surgeon take one of Dad’s lymph nodes for biopsy. Tom is
taking Dad to the surgeon today for an initial consultation. It should be an
outpatient procedure. We have a follow-up with the blood specialist in three
weeks.
We also got a copy
of the PET scan results. I would be happy to fax anyone a copy if you wish.
There a couple of frustrating points from the visit, mainly the fact that we
didn’t get a concrete diagnosis. Perhaps that’s good though. It could still be
a non-malignant lymphoma. The pet scan was listed as “a comparison to the prior
CT scans …of July7, 2009” which I interpret to mean that they saw something back
then, but failed to adequately communicate their concerns to Dad. The PET scan
report is fairly technical document, but I can see a few positive notes such as
this statement, “Again, the overall changes suggest mild progression of
lymphoma.” And, “Both lungs are clear without pulmonary nodules or pleural
effusion.”
I am hopeful that
this biopsy will give us a firm diagnosis and a list of treatment options to
choose from. Saw Dad this morning. His tennis game is about the same. His
eyesight seems to be pretty good. I think he has lost some muscle strength
though.
That’s about it for
now. Let me know if you need anything.
Love you all,
John
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your thoughts?