Gail Watson Gail Thuman Watson

Gail was diagnosed with retroperitoneal Leiomyosarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma, on 10/7/2021. Also referred to as LMS, this disease is a rare, aggressive Sarcoma, that is currently incurable. We learned a lot very quickly, and it was scary. It started with abdominal pains in May 2021 and a trip to Beebe South Coastal Emergency room, where a CT scan revealed a mass. Gail had another CT scan, an ultrasound, an MRI, and an interventional radiology biopsy in an attempt to diagnose the mass. Doctors suspected the mass was benign, but as it was growing, Gail had surgery at Beebe in Lewes in September 2021 to remove it. They could not remove it, but took biopsies - those were diagnosed as LMS. Gail's 2nd surgery in November 2021 at Johns Hopkins was successful in removing the mass, which was determined to be a high grade LMS tumor. The November 2021 surgery also removed her right kidney, appendix, and part of the right iliac vein to get good margins. JH docs started surveillance CT scans every 3 months. In Aug 2022, the CT scan found a tumor reoccurrence at the original tumor location and suspicious lung nodules raising concerns that the sarcoma had metastasized. She had 6 chemo treatments at Johns Hopkins and TidalHealth in Ocean Pines. On Feb. 21, 2023, Gail had a lung nodule removed at JH that was positive for the same LMS sarcoma. Surgery is now scheduled to remove the reoccurence tumor from the retroperitoneal area, where it is encasing the right iliac artery. This surgery is scheduled for March 24th at Columbia University Medical Center in NYC.

You are welcome to share this Caring Bridge link with others that are interested.

We are using this Caring Bridge site to keep family and friends updated in one place. 
We are not asking for Tribute donations to Caring Bridge, but we are thankful for their website and your caring messages.
****. PLEASE NOTE - Tribute & DONATION BUTTONS ARE FOR Caring Bridge *****