Recap

April 27

Discovered a large mass in my upper anterior chest. 15 X 10 X 6 cm. Pretty large. Growing around my bronchial tubes and some major blood vessels. Initial presentation is suggestive of some type of lymphoma because of the location. Biopsy a week ago included a bronchoscopy. They did a fluid wash of my bronchial tubes and analyzed the fluid for any evidence of lung cancer. None was found. They also took a piece of the mass and the pathology lab has been trying to figure out exactly what it is. The frozen section (i.e. quick and dirty read) indicated some sort of abnormal lymphoid tissue (read Lymphoma?) As of Friday they were having a hard time at the local hospital (Suburban in Bethesda, MD) so they were going to send the slides over to the NIH for some pathology assistance. That's where we are now.

I see my surgeon tomorow for a surgical follow up. Not sure if he'll have any info on what sort of cancer this is. Wendesday I have an appointment at the NIH for evaluation as a potential candidate for their clinical trials. Hoping to have some more answers by then.

Right now the indications are that it's some kind of Lymphoma. Many are very treatable. Unfortunately the Dr.'s have not arrived at a definitive diagnosis.

Oh yeah, now that I've run out of percocet my cough is coming back. Fortunately I'm healed enough it doesn't feel like I'm getting stabbed in the chest. Sneezing is still a little bit of an adventure.