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Shake & Bake (April 26, 2002)
On Tuesday's posting, Sally mentioned Kent's ultrasound. They saw things floating around in there. Kent thought one of those "things" looked just like a rubber ducky. We were hoping to be able to post a picture of it, but when he went for a biopsy and looked at the films, he said they hadn't captured it. (What was it he was on? Sally wants some of that!) Kent has spent more time in the MRI machines than the Colonel's chicken in a hot oven. They were suspecting spinal problems so started working their way from the top down. Wednesday, he had a brain scan (came back negative, does that mean he is empty headed?) and a cervical MRI. "Just hold completely still for the next 45 minutes Mr. Simcoe..."
After returning from the seventh level of hell, the report was confirmed. There is a spinal tumor at the junction between the thoracic and lumbar regions. They believe that it is operable. They are also concerned about the lumps in the breast and have not yet confirmed whether the two are related. This will determine the course of treatment after surgery (hormones, chemo or radiation). When Kent got back to his room at 4:30, his lunch was waiting for him. Good, says he. Still no schedule or report from the doctors so he settled in to enjoy his repast. Just as he finished, the nurse came in. "You aren't eating are you?" Kent said, "Not anymore. Why?" "You can't eat now, you are scheduled for surgery tonight. The doctor said to not let you eat anything." "News to us. What surgery?" Our friends Linda & Ed Silva came up from San Jose to spend time with Kent and Sally. Ed had to leave, but Linda stayed to support Sally & Kent and to find out what was up. She also gives a mean foot massage. Is surgery tonight? The surgeon is not returning calls. Turns out the primary doctor figured the surgery was needed tonight, but failed to let the surgeon know about it. Finally, at 10:00 the nurse talks to the surgeon. "I'm not operating tonight." As Linda and Sally bade Kent a good night, the nurse was bringing him his reheated, dinner, now midnight snack. We now think the surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, but will know more tomorrow (probably). In the meantime, Kent remains optimistic that he will recover functionality. We will work towards that end. As always, prayers are welcome. Kent says "Pray that they can make this seem like it never happened." Love, |
What an incredible week. Since Tuesday, Kent has been
poked, prodded, zapped, shaken and baked. Sorry it's been so long since an
update. Too much to say and not enough time to say it.
No luck there. Thursday morning another MRI of the lower
back. Still negative. Thursday night, 3 more hours of imaging to get the rest of
the spine. When the doctor came in with the report, he said they finally saw
something and would send him for another MRI to get more detail. Up to this
point, all had been in an open MRI machine. Not so this afternoon. He equates
the closed machine to a being in a convection oven, a long tube with air blowing
past trying to keep the circulation going. Can you say "Sauna"?