Thursday, December 16, 2010

Playing CAT and Mouse



As some of you may know, about a year ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3 duodenal cancer. Surgery with that type of cancer is often not an option because of the location near numerous blood vessels. I did have surgery by a gifted surgeon, followed by time to recover from the surgery and then six months of chemotherapy.

Upon the completion of chemo, I had the follow-up tests. The CAT scan showed "spots on my lungs" but all was clear at the site of the original tumor. My oncologist sent me for a PET scan (see image at the right) to find out what the spots were.

I met with him last week. The PET scan revealed one small spot on each lung. However, they were too small to diagnose as benign or malignant. So I'll have another CAT scan in three months to monitor changes in these pesky spots. If it turns out to be more cancer, my feeling is that it's early and treatable.

I can't resist saying that I am now in a CAT and mouse game.

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