Here's the Scoop

Late January, I was putting lotion on my neck and found a lump above the left side of my collarbone. I decided to keep an eye on it and even went on vacation to Hawaii. When we came home I found it had not gone away or gotten any smaller.

On the 17th of February, I ran into my doctor, Dr. Gower, in the doctor's lounge and he felt it and told me to come upstairs after work to aspirate it and make slides for the pathology department to take a look.

On the 18th, he called me to his office to tell me it was cancer and to go and get a chest x-ray, which I did, and was negative. (FYI- my mammograms are up to date and all negative)

On the 19th, I saw an ENT doctor who gave me a head and neck exam and could not find anything abnormal. That afternoon, Dr. Gower removed the node and we sent it to pathology for testing.

On the 23rd they knew it was metastatic carcinoma, although it was poorly differentiate (in other words, they know it is cancer, just not what type), so they sent it to Seattle for further testing. I do not have those results back as of yet.

On the 24th I met my Oncologist, Dr. Stewart, who said she would really like the results from some scans so we could figure out a game plan.

On Thursday the 25th, I had a PET and CT scan that morning and Dr. Gower called me by 4 pm to let me know that the scans picked up an isotope mid-chest, suggesting esophageal involvement, as well as a node on the other side, where I found the original spot.

Today, the 26th at 2 pm, I had an esophagoscopy with biopsy's done. Dr. Gower just called (7 pm) to let me know that the doctor who performed the procedure was not impressed with what he saw and believed it to be benign, however he did take biopsies to send to the lab to be sure.

So, Dr. Gower, Dr. Stewart, and another doctor who I have not met, have gone over all my scans and believe it could be thyroid related. Monday, March 1st, they are going to set up a thyroid sonogram and a fine-cut CT of my head, sinuses, abdomen, and pelvis.

So, the search goes on......


They are looking for the primary source of the cancer. I am feeling fine and have no symptoms, I even just had pizza for dinner right after my procedure. I haven't been very informative because I don't really have any information to give. Hopefully, next week we will know what is going on, make a game plan, and proceed with chemo, radiation, and whatever else is needed.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and calls!!