Saturday, March 3, 2012

Conspicuity

Isn't conspicuity a great word? I had never heard it before, and when I saw it on my latest radiology report, I was intrigued. It's pretty obvious what it means by the sound of it, but just for fun, I looked it up:

The property of being clearly discernible; The state or quality of being clear or bright; brightness; conspicuousness

So, what has conspicuity? My health? My mental state?

Sadly no. It appears that there is a "rounded lesion of low attenuation measuring 1.6 cms near the linear posttherapy defect in the right hepatic lobe with increasing prominence and conspicuity when compared to 12/23/11."

Ladies, don't you want to meet the guy who wrote that sentence? Hawt.

This "prominence" is in the area of my liver that was ablated; the section they couldn't reach with the knife.

Does that mean I have cancer growing there again? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably. I hope not.

What it means for sure is I have to have a PET scan again. A PET, in case you have forgotten, is the most boring medical test in the history of tests, and I'm dreading it. Asking me not to move even a finger for an entire hour is like asking Mitt Romney to say something interesting to a crowd. Not gonna happen.

Because I'm seeing Dr. SuperSurgeon on Wednesday, we had to rush the PET through, and once again, I have lots of people to thank for being on the ball and making this happen. My doctor's secretary, the RAS folks, they treat me good, no doubt. My PET is Monday and I should be able to bring the CD with me to San Francisco on Wednesday.

The rest of the radiology report was good. My intestines are healing and show no obstruction, although there are still boo-boos on them. (Bowel distension and resolving pancolitis which has shown "interval" improvement) Nothing shows abnormally in my heart, lungs, stomach, kidney or bones or any lymph nodes. So, while cancer may be growing back where it once was, it is not yet travelling throughout my body.

I would like Dr. SuperSurgeon to tell me that they can zap this out, assuming it's cancer. Yes, I would face that again. But my intestinal problems and possibility of relapsing c-diff complicate any treatment they may want to give me.

We shall see.

Anyway, one thing I can say with great conspicuity is that this cancer thing.... sucks.



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Posted by Ann aka ButDoctorIHatePink at 12:25 PM

12 comments:

  1. Dee Anne (AKA 'Yogi')March 3, 2012 at 12:33 PM

    Thinking of you Ann! Be sure to kick it's a$$ all the way to San Fran!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 3, 2012 at 5:04 PM

    Hang in there Ann. We're pulling for you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. PraeliorMarch 3, 2012 at 5:22 PM

    Damn. Let's hope that area of brightness fades or decides to go dormant. Thanks for the update.

    Hugs from the Midwest...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous GMarch 3, 2012 at 10:54 PM

    Won't you just fall asleep in the PET scanner? Hope so...
    What I'm reeeally hoping for is a boring scan result.

    Thinking positive thoughts for you Ann xxoo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nancy's PointMarch 4, 2012 at 11:28 AM

    Thanks for the update, Ann. "Conspicuity," that is an intriguing word. I'm glad some of the news from your radiology report was good. Good luck with the PET scan. Hope the most boring thing about it will be the results. Will be thinking of you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ann aka ButDoctorIHatePinkMarch 4, 2012 at 11:40 AM

    The scanning machine isn't the boring part. They inject you first with a radioactive glucose and you have to sit for an hour, not moving. You can't read a book, you can't scratch your nose. It has to absorb into any cells that are dividing rapidly, moving metabolically, like cancer cells. If I twiddle my thumbs, that's going to come up as being metabolically active. So, no exercise today (no problem) and no moving tomorrow. For, an
    entire hour!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous GMarch 4, 2012 at 4:38 PM

    Ive had a couple of PET scans, one of them was an open machine like a ct scanner. My first PET was an hour in a tiny tube. Being claustrophobic, I took Xanax. Practically fell asleep after I was injected (that part was when i found it HARD to not move!!) I was very relaxed during the scan. Hoping for the same for you!!

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnneMarieMarch 4, 2012 at 6:38 PM

    I'll be thinking about you tomorrow and waiting to hear GOOD news. Is it okay for me to say I would be freaked out if I were you? That's not very supportive, right? OK OK..... Hope the hour flies by and you get to catch up on some sleep.... and THEN, get back to us with good news.

    xoxoxox

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jan Baird HasakMarch 8, 2012 at 2:27 PM

    This is so hard. I hope all goes well for you, Ann. We're all rooting for you. XX

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kate M.March 9, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    Thinking of you and wishing you well

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousMarch 9, 2012 at 5:17 PM

    This is Jeffrey. My dear, you face these things standing right up to them, never cowering in the corner. Once again I must say that women are sooooo much d=stronger than men, and you are stronger than most women. Looking forward to good news, Jeffrey

    ReplyDelete
  12. gaganAugust 11, 2012 at 12:14 AM

    Some of these are daily duties, like the recitation of the Shema.All of this happened recently near Tsfat and, let me say, there couldn’t have been a better place for it.
    "physician, recruiting, healthcare, jobs, medical, staffing"

    ReplyDelete

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