3 Month Follow Up

After James’ surgery in March, he was scheduled for a 3-month follow up.  This was mostly due to the lesions found on his lung.  Last week he had a CT with contrast and today he had the follow up appointment with this doctor to discuss the results and impressions of that scan.

The kidneys got the best news.  They are stable, working and have no recurring lesions.

Regarding the lungs, while the lesions/nodule remain, they are stable, so this is good news!  With cancer, stable lesions mean no growth.  They also saw lesions on his liver and bones.  While that can seem scary, and did at first, we were told that this can be normal.  Fingers crossed. 

The doctor did say that while all signs point to doing a follow up in 1 year, he felt that we should be aggressive in our observation of the lesions and therefore, we will do the next follow up in 6 months.  Once again, we will be hoping for no growth. 

The only area of potential concern is a possible blood clot in the superior mesenteric vein (SMV), or the vein that drains blood from the small intestine and ends at the pancreas.  It could be a result of the contrast being flushed from the system during his CT with contrast, however, if left untreated or at least if not further clarified, it could lead to a pulmonary embolus…which is bad.  So, he has been scheduled for an ASAP CT where they will put the contrast directly and specifically into the SMV to determine if it is a clot. 

So, a few more things on the “to-do” list, but overall, we are very grateful for the continued blessings of health and strength that have been extended to James.  Additionally, James feels overwhelmingly blessed with regards to his doctor who seems to be extremely attentive and compassionate towards him.  As noted in a previous post, this doctor and James are just about the same age and share a birthday.  Today, he told James that he is struck by how much James looks like his best friend.  So overall, this doctor and James are connected in more ways than one and we feel that we are getting extremely good care.  We couldn’t feel more grateful. 

Continued prayers for the upcoming CT scan.  Onward and upward!