Turbo Cancer: Day 145 - November 3, 2022

I Am Not a Cancer Expert

On this day, last year, I wrote:

Today I took my mom to see the surgeon. The surgical site is healing well and the lump is gone. He removed half of the staples and cleaned out the drain tube.

Also, he had the results from the biopsy of the fluid-filled capsule. Previously, the consensus among the doctors was that a fluid-filled mass or cyst wasn’t cancer. He was very surprised to learn that the tissue that he had removed was “full of cancer.” Now the doctors are hypothesizing about the possibility of the fluid overload being caused by the cancer.

We mentioned to the oncologist that my mom had had a lot of back pain. It may be a result of spending a lot of time sitting or in bed- but the doctor wants to be cautious. She wants to rule out the possibility of a tumor putting pressure on the spine, or growing in the spine. She has ordered an MRI for tomorrow morning. After that test, the doctor will decide whether my mom will continue with her chemo treatment tomorrow.

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The first time I took my mom to see Doctor A, the radiation oncologist, it had been to assess Lumpy. Doctor S, the surgeon, had come up with a theory that radiation could shrink the lump in my mom’s groin. Doctor S had wondered if radiation could provide pain relief and improved quality of life.

Doctor A had studied my mom’s scan results and had determined that radiation was not an option. The reason for this was that the lump in my Mom’s groin was fluid-filled and, therefore, not cancerous. He explained that cancer is always a solid mass.

He said: “A fluid filled capsule is never cancerous.”

We were told that he was one of the top radiation oncologists in the country. We were told that he was considered an expert in the field.

When I brought this information back to Doctor T, Doctor S, and Doctor J, they all agreed: cancer is a solid mass. Cancer is not a fluid-filled capsule. It was not possible that the fluid-filled capsule in my mom’s leg was cancer.

That is what the doctors told us. That is what the experts determined. That is why my mom did not get radiation.

Radiation shrinks cancer cells. There was a fluid-filled capsule in my mom’s groin. Fluid-filled capsules are not cancer. Therefore, radiation would not have helped.

Except that it was cancer. The biopsy results came back, and in the words of Doctor S, it was “full of cancer.”

So, I said: “But, you all told me that fluid isn’t cancer. You all agreed that a fluid-filled capsule is never cancer. How are you now saying that it is cancer?”

Doctor S held his two hands out, with the palms facing the ceiling. He opened his mouth. He shrugged his shoulders. He paused momentarily, then shook his head.

He looked down at the floor and said: “The fluid itself cannot contain cancerous cells, but all of the tissue that I removed from the area did. That is why it never healed correctly. That is why it continued to grow when we expected it to shrink.”

I said: “So……. So……… So, I don’t understand. This has been going on for months. You told us, for months, that it would resolve itself. You all said that it was not cancer. That it was not related to the cancer. Now you are saying that all of the tissue is cancerous? You took out the lymphocele and the surrounding tissue, and it is all full of cancer? Like, all of the different kinds of tissue? Does that make sense? Is that possible? Is it all pancreatic cancer cells? Pancreatic cells growing in the different kinds of tissue? Or are there more kinds of cancer? How is it that the tumor markers have decreased? Why does everybody keep saying that the chemo is working? Wait, so, radiation would have helped with the pain? My mom could have had radiation months ago, and avoided all of this suffering? I don’t understand.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and responded: “It can be difficult to understand. Cancer can act differently in different people. I am not a cancer expert. I am sure that your oncologist will be able to answer these questions much better than I can.”

Asshole.

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The Next Day:

To know the whole story, start at the beginning: