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Some encapsulated tumors are better off not being disturbed whole in the body. They can shed cancerous cells. If they finished late, maybe the path guts had gone? Or it just wasn't urgent once out? Whatever, glad he did so well!
Well, it was an encapsulated tumor, but they took great care in removing it. They wrapped it in a little "baggie" thing before removing it so it wouldn't shed cancer cells on the way out, assuming it was cancer. They said the 'baggie" was a special technique developed there, at MDACC. They did say it might take several weeks to get a final analysis.
I'm so glad we went there! Its a huge, but well-run place and I feel his chances were best there!
We will also make arrangements to board the cats, rather than a pet sitter. I've had some bad experiences with pet sitters, not showing up every day, just come before you return and fill up the food & water bowls. Once I came back and fund both food bowls full, and no water! We are already at $1000 in expenses, and not a single medical bill Well, guess that's how it goes! Hopefully subsequent visits will be just a day trip. My heart goes out to those who have to travel a long ways and stay weeks at a time
Geez----what does it take to open a can of cat food and scoop litter for a few days? Apparently that's a task beyond most people. My DD offered to come feed the cats. She's 18 and lives with her boyfriend, just a few miles away. I told her that would help a great deal, since the cats know her, and would save us some money.
Well, when I came back Tuesday, I was appalled No one had been inside the apartment since we left! There was mail, flyers, etc stuck in the door jamb, once inside, it was a mess! No food, no water, the tower with the kibbles was empty, we had left several bowls of water, all empty, and the litter overflowing! WTH had happened!
Turned out she had texted to Dad's cell phone, do you still want me to feed the cats? On Friday night, when he was still in surgery. I had given her MY cell number, and told her, don't call Dad's number, of course, he wouldn't be in any position to answer it, call me. I felt I was explaining the obvious, but still explained this. Well, when she texted Dad on Friday and didn't get any response, she assumed we didn't need her, even though we were quite specific about the date, times, etc, gave her a key, showed her where the cats' supplies were, etc. She just dropped the ball and decided to hell with it! I didn't even pick up the message until we came back and charged Dad's phone again. Look, I was sitting there, worried sick about my DH, and thought I had the cats taken care of.
Those poor animals. One more day and their food would have been totally gone, fortunately we left the tower filled with about 10 pounds of dry kibble, and several dishes of water. Now she's taking the "injured party" stance, she can't be expected to "magically know" what our plans were, even though we told her specifically! I suppose feeding 3 cats for 4 days is too much responsibility for an 18-year old girl.
I told my kitties I promise never to leave you alone again. Regardless of cost, I will board them in the future. I'm already making arrangements to board them over Thanksgiving, when we go to visit my cousin. From now on, if I can't afford to board the cats, I can't afford the trip, although this wasn't a pleasure trip, it was a necessity, but regardless, the cats deserve better. Imagine if we came home to sick or dead cats, after going through all that with DH. BTW, she is NOT mentally retarded, she recently graduated an honor student----but you wonder what she used for a brain
There are pet sitting services that are very dependable. Ask your vet for a recommendation. I've been using the same one for 20 years or so. Not cheap but less expensive than boarding 3 cats.
There are pet sitting services that are very dependable. Ask your vet for a recommendation. I've been using the same one for 20 years or so. Not cheap but less expensive than boarding 3 cats.
Perhaps so, thanks, I will start by asking a vet that does NOT board--
I feel my cats would be best in their own environment. They're older, and don't take well to new places. We will be traveling over Thanksgiving, I should look now into a pet sitter.
Get this---DD recently told us she wants to be a Vet Tech!
Maybe they will have a course on cat feeding/litter scooping 101
Meanwhile, its been over a week, how long should we expect to wait to hear from the doc? They said whatever it was, they got it all. But they said it could take several weeks to get a final pathology report. I didn't want to press the doctor at that point, but shouldn't the report be sooner than that? I'm relieved that "whatever it is" tumor is now removed, and body scans show no sign of spreading, but what was it in the first place? Could it sprout in another place? Is there anything we can do to prevent it from spreading? Should he have periodic screenings?
Questions, questions.......at least we're heading in the right direction
WII = whatever it is, that's all the doc said. Ok, he's a surgeon, not a pathologist or oncologist, I fully understand that. But so far all we know is its called WII
WII was found very early, before it had a chance to metastasize,
WII was totally removed in a way it couldn't burst and spread
WII is now being analyzed
We're ahead of the game. In many cases, WII and his cousins get to merrily spread all around the body until they're found, after they've done their damage.
Just checking back to see if you've gotten any answers from Pathology yet and to ask how your hubby is doing.
Well, we got the results---it is cancer
I was extremely upset at how MDACC handled giving us the diagnosis. First, DH surgery was Oct 2. Dr told us it would take "awhile" for results. We waited and waited, finally, on Oct 16, dh sent an email asking for the results. Only after asking for the results did they contact us. Someone---she said she was a PA ---called me from the office, with an accent so thick I could barely understand her, demanding to speak with DH. I said he's not here, can I take a message? She snapped at me she had called him at his work number and he wasn't there. Well, did she leave a message? By this time I'm shaking, knowing the doctor's office was calling, it could only mean one thing---they had the test results. She just seemed annoyed that dh wasn't there. I asked if she had the test results, she said yes, but she would rather give them to dh, maybe I could conference in, because "she didn't want to explain the whole thing twice".
Ok, by now, I'm ready to lose it. Well, I'm approved to speak on behalf of my dh, can you tell me the results? She just snapped at me "well, its cancer. But I'd rather speak with yur husband for the details" Look, it was already 4pm on a Friday, we were expected to wait 3 days to hear the details? That's beyond human endurance! I asked her when did the test results come in? She said Oct 6. It was Oct 16 when I spoke with her, I said you mean to tell me you've had the results for over 10 days and no attempt to even contact us? Then, you only contact us when we have to contact you first, asking for the results, then you dangle them in front of me like this?
Then, she snapped at me, "look I'm sorry your husband has cancer (in a saracastic tone, like she isn't the least bit sorry, just annoyed), but you're being rude to me! Like all that mattered was kissing her royal butt! I was crying by then. I asked her what we're to do next, a follow-up visit, more tests, what? You don't just snap at a person their husband has cancer then expect them to go away! She fumbled around a bit, put me on hold, then came back with a little more information--
its stage T1-a,clean margins. That was all she could tell me. I had the impression that was her limit of understanding and she just wanted to get me off the phone. After all, it was a Friday afternoon! Then, she said he has an appointment scheduled for Nov 23. What? How are we supposed to know that? no one has contacted us. Besides, in "this country" (ever notice how they never tell you where they're from, they just say My Country), in THIS country, that's a major holiday week and we do have travel plans. Isn't there some other day to schedule? So, she finally does offer to re-schedule, comes up with Nov 2.
Ok, so, dh has surgery Oct 2. Test results come in Oct 6, we are never contacted. Finally, we have to call them for results which we get Oct 16, and I get a glib, flip attitude. Then we're told we have an apt Nov 23, almost 2 months from the date the doctor gets the test results, and scheduled on a major holiday when other days are clearly available.
She then did get ahold of dh-- and gave more details, but not much more. From what we can make out, the tumor was 2 cm, it was positive for cancer, they removed it and a bit of margin, the margin was clean, there's no evidence of it spreading, he's supposed to follow-up periodically for scans, etc.
I felt completely let down by the whole process. I'm left wondering if the doctor even looked at the test results, since we had to call to obtain them. If he's that lax in follow-up, what else does he lack in doing? We felt completely brushed off. Look one would expect to get results, especially for something as serious as cancer. I did call patient advocate, again, got the run around. The person I was talking to just hung up in the middle--a supposed disconnect, but I doubt it. I called again, by then, WTH do you expect? We'd been brushed off for dx and follow-up, treated like a nuisance, then hung up on by patient advocates. The next person I got---hey, didn't they think I would call back? seemed more sympathetic and said they would refer the matter to---the doctor! We haven't heard a word back from the patient advocate or the doctor.
I am truly disappointed with our experience with MDA and wouldn't go back or recommend them to anyone. Supposedly, they're one of the "best" in the world, but best at what? Research, teaching, but certainly not patient care. The total disregard for our part, total lack of any consideration for us, leaves me wondering if there's more to this and they are just not interested. Perhaps dh type of cancer doesn't fit any of their study protocols, so, just push him to one side. After all, they're all about bringing in grant money. If the patient doesn't fit one of their studies, they just push him to one side. The fact that we even had to call and practically beg for the results is sheer abuse---but then again, who gives a flip about the patient?
Ok, we're going back Nov 2, I will go with dh. I'm going to insist on copies of his records ALL of them, the surgical report, pathology reports, etc. Why? Because I want to read them for myself, and get another opinion, perhaps his PCP doctor or an oncologist, just SOMEBODY who will at least talk to us!
So, how is dh? He appears fine, back at work, not in pain,appears in good spirits, etc. I haven't conveyed to him my experiences with the doctor or my doubts about the thoroughness of the diagnosis, why worry him needlessly? Its just a few more days until we can see the "great one" and, perhaps, get some sort of communication. However, I do feel they did an excellent job surgically,that was a "world-class" act. Perhaps this guy is just a technical guy and is used to sending results back to someone else? Whatever.....I shouldn't be guessing at this point.
Regardless, we feel progress is being made, so be grateful!
Last edited by MaryleeII; 10-28-2015 at 03:57 PM..
Just remember that you got fantastic news. While it might not have been handled how you would like, this is good news. He doesn't *have* cancer, he *had* cancer and it was removed with clean margins and no evidence of it spreading. May we all be so lucky.
Whenever there were mix-ups with communication, I reminded myself that my oncologist might have been distracted handling an emergency with one of his patients or telling a mother that the latest round of chemotherapy was not working. I also reminded myself that my medical team was not hired for their communication skills. My oncologist constantly said things that made me uncomfortable referencing to how he didn't know how to interact with young patients - but while I eventually found a new oncologist who shares my communication style, it was clear that my medical needs were being cared for. That is certainly true at MD Anderson as well.
Also, remember that cancer doesn't care about holidays. People have operations scheduled on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas all the time and your medical team probably only rarely gets those holidays off to spend with their family.
I had a very similar experience at MDACC and my husband died from neglect there last thanksgiving day.
There wasn't ONE person who took my concerns seriously until it was too late, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.
Not one person returned my calls about the situation either, and as MDACC is state owned, I had zero recourse for justice for him.
Be very very careful there, and best wishes for a total return to health asap.
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Well, guess that's how it goes! Hopefully subsequent visits will be just a day trip. My heart goes out to those who have to travel a long ways and stay weeks at a time
No one had been inside the apartment since we left! There was mail, flyers, etc stuck in the door jamb, once inside, it was a mess! No food, no water, the tower with the kibbles was empty, we had left several bowls of water, all empty, and the litter overflowing! WTH had happened!
