A few days ago, I had an appointment with my radiation oncologist. I hadn’t seen her in over two years, so it was nice to see her, but I wish it had been under different circumstances. After we caught up on where we had been, I was finally able to show her the pictures from our vow renewal ceremony, so that was nice, and what we had been doing; we discussed my cancer.
Unfortunately, since the CT of my neck came back clear, she has to wait for the results from my PET scan. She needs to see the exact size and location of the tumor to figure out if she can treat me or not. If there is even the slightest part of the tumor in my previous treatment area, she can’t put me through radiation. I didn’t know that you couldn’t radiate the same area more than once, so we must have clear images to compare from 2019/2020 to today. My PET scan is tomorrow, Friday, and I am going back to my oncologist next Tuesday for the results.
So after my initial appointment, my doctor asked if I could come back in an hour to do some plotting with the tech. I didn’t need to be anywhere, so I said I could come back, no problem. When I came back, they took me to the CT room, measured a few coordinates, and went ahead and marked me with stickers in case I could have radiation soon. When I laid down on the table, my doctor came over and felt where the tumor was, and she said, ” it seems like it is very superficial; that might be why the CT scan didn’t see it.” I hadn’t thought of that being the reason for the clear CT, but it makes sense.
Next, they had me put both arms over my head, which is the position I will have to be in for the radiation treatments. It has been almost three years since my first surgery in April 2019, and it still hurts to have my arms up over my head for any length of time. I have gained a lot of mobility back since that first surgery but not 100%. Because of the pain I am in when in that position, they will make molds for me to rest my arms in so the pain and pressure will be decreased, making me more comfortable. When I put my arms up, my doctor felt the tumor again and said it had dropped slightly in location, taking it closer to the area where I had radiation before; this is not good if I want radiation to be the primary treatment to get rid of the tumor.
So, now we are waiting for my PET scan and the results. What will happen if I can’t have radiation? I am guessing that I will have to have surgery to remove the tumor, but after that, I am not sure. I will be asking my oncologist about that when I see him on Tuesday next week.