Initial biopsy update - NOT!

Well, after the five-hour ordeal yesterday, I got a call from the oncologist today that the results are inconclusive. He said they should have talked to me yesterday, but evidently they had to use a hammer to try to extract bone tissue and were not successful. They evidently thought they had a sufficient sample but didn't. They commented to the oncologist that I had some of the hardest bones they had ever seen. I have all the luck!

So where to from here? I was so disgusted over this news that I told the oncologist that I'm going somewhere else. I already have an approved referral for Shands for a second opinion, so now they will be the first opinion!

The Baptist oncologist failed to mention in my full CT scan of my neck and abdomen that he noted other areas of irregular growth in my body besides the growths in my pelvis. That was sort of a key thing to omit, so he's fired! I can head directly to Shands without significant delay. My primary suggests that I keep with our original plan and head to Gainesville's cancer center. I had the understanding that Jacksonville now had a Shands cancer center, but evidently they do not. They have a new proton beam with a team of oncologists but not a center as such. The primary thinks Gainesville would work better at this time.

My primary spoke with the cancer center and they advised under the circumstances that first I actually see an orthopedist. There are orthopedic specialists called orthopedic oncologists that further specialize in suspected cancer of the bones. Through them I will have a second biopsy that will be much more involved. It will be done in an OR and use a special drill to drill out a bone sample. Yuck!

So we're playing the waiting game again. The original oncologist now suspects that I may have a "metabolic" bone disorder that's genetic, although there is no family history of such a thing. Cancer and Paget's Disease are still on the table as well, so we're almost back at square one. Grrrr! He says that Paget's is usually slow and doesn't manifest itself like this but that in medicine two plus two doesn't always equal four so anything's possible.

So I'll have the second biopsy and then follow up either with the orthopedist or with the cancer center and we'll go from there. I'm not sure how involved the second biopsy will be or how long the recovery will be. All of the paperwork has been forwarded to the orthopedist, so I'm just waiting to hear back from the orthopedic scheduler about an appointment. I'll keep everyone in the loop.

This is a big setback and we're very upset and frustrated at this point, but we know that God is in control and will see us through this.