February's biopsy

We haven't updated the blog in sometime. The results of the scans in February sent us on an emotional roller coaster for a couple of weeks. The first reading from CT and PET was that there was a new tumor in the same ribcage of the initial tumor. Surely not. But, there it was on the results---this mass. We stared in disbelief and tried to wrap our minds around it all. Our doctor phoned to explain the readings, and to also try to calm our worst fears. He theorized that this was not a new tumor at all, but instead tissue and calcium surrounding the one rib that had been broken in September after the surgery. He felt like that area had some swelling and possibly some bleeding, but that in all likelihood, not a new tumor. Drew's case was brought before a board of physicians to get their concensus on the readings; they all agreed based on the location of this new mass and the fact that the mass was located in the exact spot that the rib had been broken and re-broken. It was decided that because the area was easily accessible and wouldn't require being cut into, they would do a subcutaneous biopsy. We planned the procedure and waited....and prayed. Originally, it was thought that Drew would only need a local anesthetic, but the anestesiologist decided to go ahead and do a general to save Drew from any discomfort. It took two days for the results to come back, but the sweetest words were, "Biopsy is clean. No cancer cells!" It was a hallelujah time, for sure.