March 26, 2013

Cancer UPDATE

In May 2012, Scott was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.  You can read more about his story HERE.

His 6-month check-up was in January.  The sonographer performed the ultrasound and then called the doctor in to review.  They found three areas of concern and ordered blood work.

The blood work would tell us Scott's thyroglobulin levels which we needed to come back as undetectable (0.5 or lower since he doesn't have a thyroid anymore).  Days later, we received the news...1.4.

He was given two options: 1) biopsy 2) wait it out until July to see which way things went (because radiation was still working on the tumors).  PLEASE.  For us the choice was obvious.

The biopsy was scheduled for March 12th (which at the time, seemed like an eternity away).  It was here before we knew it.  Unfortunately, from what Scott tells me it was pretty rough.  With ultrasound as a guide, they inserted long needles into Scott's neck and dug around in the lymph nodes to retrieve samples.  They did this over a dozen times.  No numbing...no nothing.  Poor kiddo.

All that to say, we met with his endocrinologist this morning to talk over the results.  

The samples came from three different areas...two in the lymph nodes from the upper and lower neck and one in the thyroid bed. 

The good news?  The two lymph node areas they checked (for now) came back clean {PTL...if there had been cancer, he would've gone into surgery within the next few weeks}. 

The bad news?  There IS cancer growing in the thyroid bed...a small tumor at this time, but nonetheless, cancer.

What now?  More waiting...more praying.  Scott will be reevaluated in a few months.  They'll check all three areas for growth and will check his thyroglobulin levels again.  There's a chance it might stabilize; however, if there's growth and/or higher levels, they'll go in and remove the tumors and he'll do more radiation.

Our feelings are mixed.  We're relieved for the moment but of course concerned for what's to come.

You'd never know that Scott has cancer.  He doesn't look or act sick and doesn't have a chip on his shoulder.  He just lives day to day being the best husband and daddy he can possibly be.  He knows that ultimately God is in control.  God is BIG...WAY BIGGER than this cancer and because of that knowledge, there's hope and peace for total and complete healing.


We pray that by the time Bennett and Clara know what "sick" means, daddy won't be "sick" anymore.  Please join us in that prayer.

3 comments:

  1. Praying that this chapter closes quickly. I designed my relay for life luminary in honor of Scott's (& yours) fight against cancer. Love you sweet friend

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa!!! Thank you SO much. That touches our hearts. We love you {miss you} and greatly appreciate your prayers! xoxo

      Delete
  2. I am continuing to pray for you guys! I do pray that this comes to closure quickly and that Scott has a full and healthy recovery from everything he's had to go through! You are an amazing wife and mother!

    ReplyDelete