Great Doctor...Tough News

I received a call from my surgeon who saw me with the collapsed lung and also made the referral to the thoracic surgeon. He called to tell me he had just received the biopsy results in his office and he wanted to touch base with me about how I was doing. He is a super doc and he has always been pretty spot on with diagnosing what is wrong with me, as well as, up-front and easily understood in his description of things.

Anyway, it is confirmed that it is adenocarcinoma. He stated that the CT scan had suggested another primary tumor, but that the pathology report suggests that it is metastasis from the original rectal tumor. He mentioned that the course of action was to complete the PET scan to see if there is any further metastasis. If there is only the tumor in the lung then the course of action is chemotherapy and radiation followed by surgery, then possibly adjuvant chemotherapy. If there is evidence of further metastasis then the course of action is chemotherapy. Under this situation I asked if this was primarily palliative chemotherapy. He responded that at that point, survival was in the single digits. He did not answer yes to the palliative question, but the course of action is chemotherapy to postpone the inevitable.

Unlike the nurse yesterday who mentioned that I did not need the thoracic surgeon to submit my order for a PET scan that I could just wait until the order on the 15th, this doctor stated that he would have me scheduled for a PET scan by the end of the day after I mentioned my situation and asked for his help. Like I stated before, a real great doctor!

Anyway, many tough decisions lie ahead for me. Please pray for mine and my wife's discernment process as we work through these difficulties.

Peace,
Josh