My husband had results of pet scan today. I took the call. A very nice doctor who didnt put the fear of god into us like the one from last week.
He needs a biopsy of the lymph node, which is being done via the throat ( cant remember what she called it).
She said from looking at the pet scan & he as no symptoms its all "treatable".
She was a very positive sounding doctor, which I relayed back to my husband. She offered a clinic who could speak to him on Thursday & they dont mention the "C" word. Because of the way its affected him mentally she thought it might help, but again she its his choice.
Shes having someone ring me tomoz to see how I'm coping & if theres any other things I need to ask or go over.
The timescale for biopsy & results is between 2 to 3 weeks & getting a treatment plan in place.
I think my only concern/worry is at this stage is how do they know its treatable purely on pet scans & not biopsy results? She seemed to think tablets would be given as treatment?
Sorry to sound such a debbie downer as I know more people on this forum are going through far worse. I just feel in a permanant state of shock & cry non stop ( but not in front of my husband) I put on a brave face....
Hi Tillyboo I am glad you have found such a caring and empathetic doctor, it makes such a huge difference when you have someone fighting your corner.
The biopsy that your husband will have sounds similar to how my tumour was removed from my airway. For me this was done under general anaesthetic but as your husband is having a biopsy rather than an operation, it may be done under a local anaesthetic, your husbands doctor can confirm this. I had a sore throat after, but no other side effects.
PET scans can give the oncologist a very clear picture of what is going on, and it sounds like they want the biopsy to confirm their findings. There are so many treatments available now, and there are indeed some that are in tablet form. There are chemo tablets and a relatively new target therapy. My treatment is in tablet form, but my cancer is a hormone driven sarcoma.
Please do not be hard on yourself. What you are both going through is the most awful time, a situation that nobody wants to find themselves in. We all here know how that feels, it is absolutely terrifying and you are pulled through all sorts of emotions. My husband tried to hide all his worry when I was diagnosed, he was the strong one, he wanted to support me. 2 years later we thought he was having heart problems, and it turned out it was all the stress he had been bottling up, it catches up with you in the end.
As you have a phone call today make sure you write any questions down that you may have. It is always handy to have pen and paper to hand for any appointment as you do tend to forget things that are said.
Sending you a virtual hug.
