No News is Good News (Sort Of)

I haven't been posting my "Lastest Cancer Scare News Updates" every day not because of more bad news but because: a) I've been too busy with living my regular "non-health crisis life" and b) The medical stuff is still all up in the air and probably will remain so for at least the next several weeks.

Examples of responses gathered thus far re: the D&C pathology report:

Doctor #1 (no-nonsense, authoritatitve voice): Of course you'll have to have a hysterectomy. That's a no-brainer. You also want to set up an immediate appointment with Dr. Gynecological Oncologist Surgeon with Stellar Reputation. He is the absolute best by far.

Me: Hello? I would say we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, given that there has not yet been a conclusive diagnosis of cancer or of anything else, for that matter. The pathology report gives no definitive answers...just more questions. Why would I instantly leap to the GIGANTIC and life-altering decision to have a hysterectomy, pray tell - especially since no one has yet talked to me for even ONE SECOND about other options, or about what effects a hysterectomy could have on my body and the rest of my life?

***

Doctor #2: You don't need to rush to a hysterectomy tomorrow or the next day. You've got some wiggle room here. A couple of months to consider other options, have some more tests. I'd recommend that you first have....

a CT-Pet Scan of the abdomen and pelvis, to rule out any obvious signs of cancer in those areas. Also some additional blood marker tests for stomach cancer, breast cancer, gynecological cancer. Also a specific tissue test to see if you had an active herpes outbreak that might have been in your cervix/uterus at the time of the D&C.

If all these tests come back negative for cancer, and if you still feel strongly that hysterectomy would be your last resort, you could request another D&C in three months, and see how things look then.

ME: This all sounds reasonable to me. I don't like having more radiation socked to me from the PET scan, but I'd rather do that than race to have a hysterectomy before I have all the information.

***

Doctor #3:Well, try your best to keep a level head and a tranquil heart. On the one hand, the report sounds ominous, on the other, it's inconclusive--which is not a bad thing in this case. I would suggest adding another anti-tumor supplement to your regiment: IP6 + Inositol @ 8g/day. This natural agent has much evidence demonstrating it's value in treating many types of cancer. I also suggest you consider setting up an appt. to consult with Dr. So & So, who heads up the Integrative Cancer Something Something Institute and could perhaps help you gain a better overall perspective.

ME: Thank you. I'll definitely think about seeing Dr. So & So. And I'll think about adding IP6 + Inositol.

***

Doctor #4: I'll most likely ultimately recommend a hysterectomy, but I know better, after talking with you, than to suggest it right away! So tell me, Jane, what do YOU want to do at this point.

ME: First I want to discuss, more specifically, what your assessment was of the D&C, since you are the one who did it. I have read your post-surgery report, but it's not clear to me if you actually saw, with your own eyes, anything in my uterus that definitely looked like cancer. It also sounds as if you did a great job of REALLY scraping everything out of there, and although I know you told me early on that the D&C was meant to be more diagnostic than therapeutic, it still seems to me that since whatever weird cells they saw were on the surface only, scraping them all away had to have been therapeutic as well as diagnostic. And it also seems to me that since I did end up having a whole lot of small polyps, those polyps could have been (or definitely were?) benign AND could have been the cause of all my dysfunctional bleeding.

Doctor #4: (paraphrased in a nutshell by me): "I did indeed get every last shred of tissue out. You are clean as a whistle in there. I didn't just do a regular D&C; I did the super duper D&C using the Such & Such Fancy Shmancy Big Device that is not always used for routine D&Cs. Whatever they saw in your lining is no longer there.

ME: That sounds really GOOD!

Doctor #4: Yes, but we still don't know if we got all of whatever it was, which could ultimately be determined ONLY by removing and biopsying your entire uterus.

ME: So one possibility is that my uterus could be removed and it could turn out that they don't find any other evidence -- or, rather, any other "suspicion" whatsover of cancer. Correct? In which case I would have had a hysterectomy for nothing. [Not said but thought: And in which case I would experience whatever side-effects from the hysterectomy that my particular body decides to put me through. According to the research I've done thus far, these post-hysterectomy side effects could range from fairly mild to absolutely horrific (i.e. loss of all sexual response, including ability to feel desire, orgasm, or clitoral sensation. Or maybe "just" a highly decreased libido, combined with incontinence problems and bowel problems for the rest of my life. Or maybe sporadic nerve pain in my back, legs, and pelvic region for the rest of my life. The list goes on.]

Doctor #4: Yes, that is possible. They might very well find nothing else bad in your uterus. BUT...we still must find out if there might be a primary cancer somewhere else that caused these suspicious cells in your uterus. Where did these cells originate? We have to rule out breast cancer mets, stomach mets, and also colon mets. So....before I tell you what I think you should do, what do YOU want to do?

ME: First of all, I want to follow the recommendations of Doctor #2 (see above). Once I get those results, I would want to reassess the situation.

Doctor #4: I'm willing to go along with all of this except the herpes test; I see no reason for that. I also want to rule out colon cancer with a colonoscopy. I would be more concerned about that possibility than gastric.

ME: I want the herpes test. I want to know if I had an active case of herpes...and possibly some herpes lesions...in my endometrial lining at the time of the D&C. I want this because, although I realize it's a longshot, my understanding is that it IS possible for herpes to confuse the results of a pathology report. It is even possible for herpes to mimic cancer and cause a misdiagnosis of cancer.

Doctor #4: I have never heard that, and I wouldn't feel comfortable ordering this test because it's beyond my area of expertise and I can't justify it.

ME: I still want the test. It would be easier for me if you would go ahead and order it along with all the others, but if you won't I will find someone who will.

Doctor #4: Relents to ordering the test, after several more minutes of arguing about it. Then adds, surprisingly and much to my great joy:

I also don't agree with Doctor #1 that you should immediately make an appointment for a consultation with Dr. Gynecological Oncologist Surgeon with Stellar Reputation, because his job is to be a surgeon, first and foremost, so that is his bias. He will absolutely recommend a full-on, extensive surgery. He'll open you up from stem to stern and want to take out everything he possibly can. His approach will be radical. However, I can see the possibility of opting for a much more conservative hysterectomy in which ONLY the uterus is removed, not necessarly the ovaries or lymph glands. This is something that I could do for you, myself. It would not require an oncological surgeon IF all your cancer tests results have come back negative, that is.

ME: Okay, let's add the colonoscopy to the growing list of recommended tests (MRI, mammogram - [Me: only a maybe on that one - not sure I need both] - Pet Scan, blood tests, etc.).

***

Doctor #5: This is the pathologist who did my original breast cancer pathology report four years ago. I met with him for an hour and a half back then, and he was one of the only "conventional" doctors I met at that time who: a) spoke to me like I had a brain and could think for myself, b) did not summarily dismiss my question re: the wisdom of blocking estrogen as a treatment for breast cancer; instead, he gave me an honest, thoughtful, multi-layered answer that allowed me to better understand the complexities...and the pros and cons...of the estrogen-blocking theory of breast cancer treatment. I liked him very much.

Therefore, I am having my pathology report sent to him for a second opinion, mainly because of the ONE line in the report that says there is a "suspicion" that whatever they are seeing on the slides could possibly be either metastacized breast cancer or metastacized gastric cancer. However, the pathologist who did the report is not at all clear on why or how they he/she comes to have this breast cancer mets suspicion, if the suspicion is based solely on the report itself, which it is supposed to be.

Although Doctor #5 is a breast cancer pathology specialist and not a uterine pathology specialist, he might still be able to shed some additional light on how to interpret my D&C tissue samples re: the breast cancer reference. The slides should be getting to his office tomorrow (Monday, Nov. 23rd).

Doctor #6: I have an appointment with Doctor #6 this Tuesday, Nov. 24th, to discuss the results of the path report from HIS perspective as my "alternative" primary care doctor, not a cancer specialist, who almost always informs and enlightens me about other ways to view, consider and assess whatever mainstream/conventional edicts I've had thrown at me thus far. He does not dismiss all conventional treatment options, but he frequently also offers other ideas for additional treatment options (ie. he is the one who prescribed my Iscador). He treats me with respect, we have conversations that inform me rather than merely order me to do things.

Doctor #2: I have a second consultation scheduled with him for Nov. 30th, to discuss everything I've learned (or results of any more tests I've had done) between Nov. 12th and Nov. 30th.

Okay, I'm all out of posting steam.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone. I am going to go eat my breakfast now, at 11:54 a.m. It will include plenty of healthy fats like high quality butter and coconut oil. I've already had my half teaspoon of fermented cod liver oil. :-)