Leah’s Cafe

I talked to the oncologist friend at the bible study tonight about the O & G’s suggestion of seeing a gatro specialist and to do the colonoscopy. Though his family are going for a family vacation on Saturday, he is kind enough to schedule an immediate appointment for me.

He asked me to go to see him at his office at 10 a.m Saturday morning, so he can look at the pathological reports, the CT scan and advise me accordingly. I am really grateful for this kind gesture. The other four doctors in the bible study group also prayed for me.  I have informed Jo, the group leader’s wife earlier, so in fact they have been praying for me all along.

Since the O & G Dr Eugene at UMSC who did the previous surgery suggested another surgery to remove the left ovary as a diagnostic and preventive measure, I went to see another O & G yesterday, for second opinion. I am glad I did, because the second doctor told me something that I was not aware of and the first doctor didn’t mention.

Since both the O & Gs advised me to check out the colon (the biopsy expressed CEA, a color cancer tumor marker), so I went to see a gastro specialist and made an appointment for a colonoscopy and possibly gatroscopy on Tuesday.

Both the O & Gs also agreed that the PCOS may be the root of my hormonal and acne problems. No need any acne treatment, just need to keep the PCOS problem under control!

The CT scan of the abdomen and lungs yesterday was normal, didn’t detect any malignant. It’s rather expensive, it has cost us close to a thousand out of pocket with no health insurance. Good thing we have saved up an emergency fund for medical expenses!

SL called me on the phone, her mother was recently diagnosed with cancer, so she is quite familiar with various scans available. She mentioned about the PET scan, so I asked Dr Eugene the gynecologist, he thinks it’s not necessary as it probably won’t be able to pick up anything smaller than a ten cents coin too.

The CT scan procedure itself only took about 10 minutes, but the preparation and waiting time was quite long. We were there at 4.30 p.m but only completed the procedure and left the place at almost 7.30 p.m.

There were some magazines scattering around the waiting room, don’t know whether they were Denver magazine or not as I didn’t read any of them. Usually I would just read whatever I could get on hands on while waiting for doctors. But, my friend LC was there to accompany me, so we talked and caught up with one another while waiting for my turn.

What thought to be a simple laparoscopy surgery to remove cysts on the ovaries has now developed into a cancer fighting battle.

After seeing the lab report and the biopsy that expressed the CEA and CK7 tumor tests. The doctor recommended to go for a CT Scan to determine whether any other organs have cancer cells.

Since I am allergic to paracetamol, the doctor gave me a type of steroid. I wonder whether it’s the kind of legal steroids those who are into body building take, but I didn’t ask the doctor. :-) I have to take three doses of the blue pills 12 hours before the scan to avoid allergic reaction.

 So the CT Scan was done on the 16th. The good news is: no other organ has traces of cancer cells. Well, this is only true to a certain extend, because CT scan can only pick up spots that are fairly big. The results of the scans just showed that there are no big spots detectable in other organs, which is good news!