Monday, September 26 Terry and I drove to Jonesboro to visit the oncologist. It was an appointment that had been rescheduled by me and was really a follow up to find out about some maintenance chemo possibility. The Dr. took the time to call up the colonoscopy and the pathologists report following surgery to tell me exactly what I had and what happened. It turns out the tumor was growing circumferentially and was actually restricting the passage of fecal material. That is what I had guessed long before we knew there was a tumor. I was just thinking about how a pipeline works and what a restriction means in the flow of material in a pipeline and came to the conclusion that I had to have some type of restriction.
The chemo/radiation had reduced the tumor size by over 85% and what was left was only about 1.5 cm in size, easily removed by the surgeon. The surrounding tissue was clear of cancer, and two lymph nodes that were removed and checked were also clear of cancer. The oncologist told me this was the best possible report I could have. I was so happy. However, I also must admit that a more serious outcome had not even entered my mind. I was sure from the get go that we had it in time and that I would be OK.
Obviously these are all estimates and guesses, but they are on my side and I like that.
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