Surgery went well on Monday. We arrived at the hospital a little before 730 in the morning. After getting checked in, I had to give blood to test my clotting function to make sure I would be able to recover well from the biopsy. Then it was off to Radiology!

Jacqui and my parents were there the entire time, and we were able to visit briefly before I went back to prep for surgery. The prep and everything else took several hours it seemed. We got to meet the radiologist and talk to him during the prep time.

The actual surgery only took 10-15 minutes. I was conscious during the entire thing, but could not feel anything. They had to stick the needle guide in, check it against the CT to make sure it was going in the right place, and then readjust. They had fun working their way around my ribs and cartilage, and they managed to get two good samples.

Recovery lasted 3 hours, during which time I got to eat lunch (meatloaf, potatoes, and broccoli), and they even managed to get some hot sauce to go with it! Hot sauce always does a good job of lifting my spirits.

Jacqui and I also had the opportunity during recovery to look at pictures from our backpacking trip to the Savage Gulf Natural Area this past weekend. Amazing views.. I’ll try to post pictures soon.

Recovery was supposed to last until 1:30, and around 1pm my mom came with some soup for Jacqui and chicken bacon sandwich for me, both from Panera. They were very good. WE really enjoyed eating them.

At the end of the recovery period, the nurse checked all my bandages, and gave me a pass out of the hospital, with orders to be driven home by Jacqui, rest quietly for the rest of the day, and not make any legal decisions that day. No problem.

I tried to rest quietly when I got home, and ended up falling asleep and taking a nap, which was very nice.

Tuesday.. Wednesday.. plans to work (yay!).. and then Thursday afternoon we see the doctor to get the results of today’s biopsy. Keep voting!

It seems weird that we’re in the year 2011. Time flies!

Tuesday, Jan 11, 2011 – We went to see the oncologist like we normally do every other Tuesday, but this Tuesday was DIFFERENT!!! (No more getting sideways!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

After getting checked in, they did blood work. We got the results back and were VERY IMPRESSED with my neutrophils. 8,200! Keep in mind that a typical count is between 3,000-6,700, and my neutrophils have been between 500-1,000 since July. We are very very very very very very (did I say very?) happy, because this means that I am able to eat raw produce. Guess who’s eating salad for lunch today? Yay!

After marveling at my white blood cells (neutrophils), we went up to see the doctor. This was the tough part. Because there is a 2cm lymph node still hyper-metabolically active (right above my heart), it may still be cancerous. The way to verify it is to get a biopsy by sticking a needle the size of a pencil lead in my chest and getting a nice big hunk of meat. Yummy.

My initial reaction was that if it’s only 2cm, we should just cut the whole thing out. Unfortunately, since it is nestled in among all those lovely large blood vessels coming out of my heart and lymphoma does not abide by geographical boundaries, that’s out.

So, biopsy. There are three possible outcomes — no cancer, cancer, or indeterminate

#1 – no cancer, just inflammation. This is the optimal result. The follow-up is regular checkups to monitor the lymph node and make sure the cancer doesn’t come back.
#2 – cancer. This is NOT an optimal result. Follow-up is continued treatment, probably a combination of radiation, high dose chemo, ZERO neutrophils (you THOUGHT 500 was low), and a stem cell transplant. (These are not the droids you are looking for.)
#3 – indeterminate, e.g., the doctor is unable to tell if there is cancer or not. This is ALSO not an optimal result. Follow-up is a 2nd, more invasive procedure known as a mediastinoscopy, which will take us back to either option 1 or 2. Again, Option 1 is the one we want.

Monday, January 17, 2011 – 7:30AM. Biopsy. A CT scanner will be used to guide the needle through my chest wall and into the active node. There are some risks for obvious reasons. Since all of you reading this will be sending positive energy, only good things should happen during surgery, and anyone in the waiting room will be surrounded by those good vibes as well.

Biopsy results take 1-3 days.

Thursday, January 20, 2011 – 2PM. We return and get biopsy results from the oncologist. We’ll know what we need to know, and hopefully what we need to do to continue our path to Cancer-free.

We hope the next few days will go by smoothly. We love all of you, and we appreciate everything that you are doing during this difficult time for us.

[jacqui says everyone should put in votes for Option 1. as a matter of fact, please take the Chicago approach – vote early and vote often. please and thank you.]