Post Op

Today is my 3rd post op day since my sinus biopsy. I’m slowly feeling better. About the time I’m feeling back to normal it will be time for the next surgery.

Going into surgery the surgeon was reasonably sure we were dealing with a metastasis from my ocular melanoma. The good news is the tumor is not a melanoma, saving me from stage IV melanoma for now. The tumor is a very rare tumor seen most often in men and smokers. Go figure! It is the first time my surgeon has seen such a tumor. The incidence is 5 to 10 per million people, so almost as rare as ocular melanoma. We will know this week whether it is benign or malignant. Either way it must be removed. Squamous cell cancer tends to be hidden within the tumor. The tumor is also aggressive and tends to erode the bone. It frequently recurs.

I am relieved it isn’t a melanoma. It will require on-going treatment and follow-up whether benign or malignant but that’s life.

The day I had surgery it was about 40 degrees below zero wind chill. Today it is actually pleasant enough out I have the windows open. It’s in the 20’s. There were beautiful big snow flakes this morning. I haven’t been out of the house yet so I’m looking forward to getting out this week. I see the surgeon Wednesday and set up the next surgery.

My Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. First, the good parts. Alex and Camila took me to lunch at TGIF, my favorite place. I always order the flat iron steak with Jack Daniel's glaze. It was good as usual. They gave me roses (from Colombia), and Camila brought me a pretty porcelain box from Colombia, along with a string bracelet in Colombia's colors. When I got home there were tulips from Emily and roses from my sister Helen. Wow, three flower gifts in one day! This morning Arthi gave me a porcelain box she brought from her recent trip home to India, it is very colorful. I didn't have any porcelain boxes, now I have two. I will use them to store earrings.

Now, the not so good part. On Monday I had a PET scan done. I have CT scans every 6 months because of having ocular melanoma. OM tends to be an aggressive cancer with a high incidence of spreading, usually to the liver. My oncologist decided I should have a PET scan this time instead, and I'm glad she did. When I saw my pulmonary doctor Tuesday a.m. he shared the PET scan results with me. It showed uptake in the right maxillary sinus, indicating a possible malignancy, likely mets from the eye. This morning I had a CT of the sinuses and saw the ENT surgeon. Well, my sinuses show no infection or sinusitis, I have a tumor in the posterior maxillary sinus on the right. I have been having a lot of facial pain and assumed it was dental, I have a dental appointment next week. I'll have to cancel that for now because I am having a surgical procedure next week to get a biopsy. I will have more surgery but just what depends on the biopsy. If it is recurrent melanoma we are hoping we can get a vaccine made. Melanoma doesn't respond well to chemotherapy. I will probably look for a clinical study if this is melanoma. So much to think about. Cancer, the "gift" that keeps on giving.

I see my oncologist tomorrow a.m. I have the very best medical team. There aren't many places where you'd have a PET scan one day, report the next, and everything set up the third day. For that I am very thankful.

Then Friday I go scrapbooking for the weekend. My favorite The Scrapbook Shop of St. Paul has moved to Lexington/Circle Pines. It's about 20 miles away, it used to be 2 miles away. I'm staying overnight at a motel so I can scrap two whole days and forget cancer for awhile.

Catching Up

I returned home today from visiting my daughter and her family in northern Wisconsin. My 11 y.o. grandson went with me. He and my 4 y.o. grand-daughter always have fun together despite the age difference. Yesterday we all went to see Bedtime Stories at the local movie theater, that still remains open in these days of big cinema plexes. One movie feature at a time. They just recently added some seats with cup holders, hopefully all the old seats will be replaced. It is still much finer than the theater we attended in Thurles, Ireland in 1967. Just wooden folding chairs. The movie was I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are. Very scary!! Fortunately Bedtime Stories wasn't scary. It was funny. I enjoyed it, not expecting to for some reason. I have now seen 2 movies in a week (Marley and Me was the other), which is more than I normally see in a year! I'm planning to start seeing more movies this year.

I'm sure we were all sorry to hear about John Travolta's loss of his son. On the news tonight they mentioned he had had Kawasaki Disease at the age of 2 and they wondered if it had contributed to his death. He was diagnosed after 2 days, much earlier than my grand-daughter, who was diagnosed late and had a very rough course. Kawasaki is a rare disease that attacks the blood vessels of the body. It occurs primarily in children under 5 and more common in Asian children. The complication that develops in some children, and can occur at any point in time, are aneurysms, most often aortic aneurysms. Travolta's son had a history of seizures and reportedly had 2 nannies even though he was 16 y.o. . I saw a clip of him on the news and he definitely had the look of a special needs child. My educated guess as to cause of death is the seizure he was reported to have suffered. He did hit his head during the seizure which brings up the possibility of a subdural hematoma, esp if he was on Depakote for seizure management. Depakote tends to thin the blood. It must be very hard to lose a child. No parent is exempt from this possibility, even the wealthy and famous.

Tomorrow I have my PET scan, hoping for good news.