The Back Story

Well . . . I never expected that I would have a website for the treatment of the mass formerly known as Cecil.


The Back Story
In September, I noticed a bump under my skin. It barely grew at all . . . no worries.
In December, it was a little bigger. I could sometimes see it stick out of the skin. One day I put up my clothes in the closet and I heard, "POP." My bump popped under my skin. It bruised my upper arm. It disappeared for a day or two. Then it grew back bigger. I decided I needed to go to the doctor. I went. Doctor said it is probably a cyst. No big deal. Unless there is a big change, don't worry.

In January, my cyst got a name, Cecil. It started to grow faster. It protruded from my arm. It was bruised all of the time. It started to hurt. I decided to go back to the doctor.
Doctor says, OMG! That grew a lot. That thing needs to come out. She tries to schedule me with a surgeon the following Monday.

In February, I finally get in to see the surgeon. He says, ohh, that must go. I tell him about Cecil. He laughs. My doctor is not convinced it is a cyst, but has no other suggestion.

The weekend before the surgery, I decided that Cecil was my long lost twin brother that I absorbed during my mother's pregnancy. I really thought/hoped the doctor will find teeth and maybe some hair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWispEM3900
Surgery was Thursday, Jan. 11th. Unfortunately, Cecil was not my long lost twin. Lots of great stories could have come from that. He was the size of a key lime.

A week later I returned to my surgeon to get my stitches out and have my follow up appointment.

Dr. Lou said, "Cecil is not your friend." Ok . . . I thought in my head as I remembered how Eric wanted to join me for the pathology results and how I insisted that I could go on my own. (I was convinced the mass was just a cyst -- a no big deal kind of thing)

Unfortunately, the mass (he no longer gets to be called a name) is a malignant tumor. More tests were needed to fully determine what type of cancer the mass, formerly know n as Cecil was. Dr. Lou said they had some ideas but that I needed to come back in a week for the final pathology results.

Tears poured from my eyes as I told my sister, Brooke, and my mom and dad the news over the telephone. That was the hardest part of that day was knowing that I would have to tell the people I love that I have cancer. I showed up on Eric’s doorstep . . . like I had promised I would if the follow up didn’t go well. Eric called a few friends to come and pray with me and just be around us during this emotional time.

The days dragged on and Thursday finally came – again. But this time I had my team - my parents and my honey, Eric.

The preliminary diagnosis: Extraskeletal Ewing's Sarcoma/PNET

That day we were still waiting for a final consensus from MD Anderson. Apparently I am missing the chromosome rearrangement that usually causes this type of cancer and my mass gave the pathologists at Memorial Hermann more than they could bargain for.

But we still got GOOD NEWS: the MRI and the chest x-ray showed that there wasn’t any spreading of the areas scanned! That was huge!  More good news, if it does end up being this rare type of Ewing's Sarcoma, then it doesn't affect bone. This makes my prognosis really good.

I have been referred to the oncologists at MD Anderson, so that will be the next step in the puzzle. They will most likely treat me from here on out. They will give me options on how to proceed.
Praise God for some light in this dark situation, for peace that transcends all understanding, and laughter. When I get the final diagnosis and method of treatment, I will pass it on through my postings.