“Wow, you aren’t such a train wreck after all!”

After examining Mark during a radiation follow-up visit, those were the words of the resident doctor. Prior to the exam he had been studying Mark’s chart and obviously expected a different type of man to be sitting there. Mark is no train wreck! He left the room shaking his head, “Seven different tumors!!”

Thus we learned that Mark’s official medical history at Huntsman lists seven tumors. We have counted ten so I am not sure where the discrepancy lies, but I am grateful that regardless of the number, I am not married to a train wreck. As I did with the children, I will attempt to remember and list Mark’s 7-10 diagnoses:

1. Giant Cell Tumor – Left femur, benign as in it won’t spread, but likely to grow new ones anywhere around the body. Treated with surgery.
2. Ganglion Cyst – Right wrist, benign, treated with surgery.
3. Melanoma – Right arm, malignant, stage 2+, treated with surgery, we declined chemotherapy.
4. Giant Cell Tumor – Left shoulder, benign (see above), treated with surgery.
5. Parotid Gland Tumor – Left cheek, benign, treated with surgery.
6. Prostate Cancer – malignant, treated with surgery.
7. Other skin cancers – I cannot remember what was removed from his scalp, only that he had giant holes on the top of his head because they sent him home while figuring out the surgical plan. Obviously he has also had basal cell carcinoma removed from his face.
8. Kidney Cancer – malignant, treated with surgery.
9. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma – malignant, but Mark’s is “indolent” and we just watch it now. (I almost forgot this one – I finished writing and came back to add it!)
10. Pleomorphic Sarcoma – malignant, right leg, left leg, lungs, thyroid, stage 4, treated with radiation, surgery and chemotherapy…. duh, we all know about this one.

Well, I am guessing that the Huntsman does not keep track of the skin cancers, and Mark probably counts them separately. I do have to say that the scalp removal was the most gruesome for the rest of us. They probably ignore the ganglion cyst also, but we were so young when that grew… it really scared us at the time. Nowadays we might ignore it as well.

Healed by Steel – that is another term that they often apply to Mark’s history. With all of those cancers, surgery has taken care of them all until now. Healed by Steel.

So – it is about time for an update on our current condition. I need to explain more of the 2nd PET scan. After reading the results I reported that Mark’s tumors were shrinking. This is good news and it got even better after we spoke to our oncologist. She let us look at the two PET scans side by side. (A quick explanation – PET scans use a radioactive contrast which is absorbed by active parts of the body [such as tumors] and making them “glow” or show up bright white.)

On the original PET scan Mark’s lungs are full of bright white images and the tumor in his leg and thyroid are very distinct white shapes. The area of tumor removal on his left leg was hazy white, like it was outlined with a cloud. On the second scan the surgical site has lost much of its outline and the other tumors looked like they had been partially erased, more shadowy than before. Dimmer is probably the better word. Again, very good news. This all shows that the cancer is responding to treatment.

Last week I wrote about going to the ER for two units of blood. This week (Monday) found us back in the ER for an infusion of platelets. We did labs in the morning and ran several errands (Mark stays in the car) trying to kill time while awaiting results because we were already 30 minutes north and our drive would be shorter. We finally went home just in time to get the phone call that we were get to the hospital immediately. We explained that we would come first thing in the morning but it didn’t fly this time – they were insistent. I don’t remember what his platelet level was, but the concern was real. There were no open appointments at Huntsman so they said we had to go to the emergency room. Then, bless our nurse’s heart – she called the charge nurse at the local hospital and made arrangements for us to go there, about a 20 minute drive and a much nicer ER. What a relief! In fact, Jackie and I had tickets for the final episodes of The Chosen, season 4 – one of the reasons we wanted to wait until morning. With the new and improved ER plan I was able to get Mark all settled in before Jackie picked me up and Mark was ready to go home when we were done.

Currently we are awaiting lab results from this morning. Last week, before needed blood, I had to use a wheelchair to get him back to the car. Today he was walking and we hope that is a good sign that we are done for the day (we drove home).

A few words about hemoglobin. First of all it is the means by which oxygen is carried by the blood throughout the body. If Mark’s hemoglobin is below 7 his doctor orders a blood transfusion. Last week she ordered two because he was at 6.7 and falling. The time before (Mr. Gwumphead), he was in the 6’s and then down into the 5’s. I read a study of persons who were in the 5’s but refused transfusions for religious reasons. They lived an average of 11 days. I think that helped to cure the Gwumpiness – his new and improved attitude is to do what they tell him to do and get better. In this he has my full support!