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The ab scan paid off. It was clear. That means no new signs of cancer after four and a half months since being off chemo. Also, the left lung, which was operated on in January, was clear. This is all reason to sigh (no pun intended) and give thanks.
The right lung, which is the focus tomorrow, has four lesions. The largest was 6mm in Jan, 8mm in Mar, and 11mm yesterday. The arrow below is pointing to this 11mm lesion (it is a light-gray circle). This pic is a slice of my chest looking up (right is left, bottom is back). Most of the little spots in the lungs are blood vessels. They can pick up the tumors by the shape, density, and relation to other slices. The other three lesions are in other slices, so you cannot see them here.
The largest lesion is in the lower lobe of the right lung. The other three lesions are in the upper lobe. There are four lobes per lung. (We EE's always knew binary is the natural numbering system of the cosmos). How much Dr. Hofstetter has to remove depends on the location of the lesions with respect to the bronchial branching structure. It turns out that this largest lesion is close enough to the center of the structure, that it may require removal of that whole lobe. If he can remove it with good marin and keep the lobe, he will. He thinks he has a good shot at it. At the end of the day, I will be at anywhere from 65% to over 80% full lung capacity. You can survive on much less than 50%, but obviously, you want as much left over as possible.
Lots of good news. Now comes the hard part.
Dr. Hofstetter, me and his RN, Susan Knippel