Paul Banovic Paul's Updates

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Last October, Paul and Betty celebrated their 40th Anniversary on the beautiful beaches of Jamaica. It was a wonderful, relaxing time of music, water, and fun. A week after returning home, he started to have some stomach discomfort and after a while, went to see the doctor.  Gastritis was thought to be the culprit and we were told it could take up to four weeks for the inflammation to heal. After more blood work and doctor visits, he went to see a gastroenterologist and they decided to run some tests.

The first test was an Upper GI on January 13th, followed by some blood work and a Catscan on the 21st.  The following week, we were told that they found a tumor on his liver that measured 10 cm. Another week later, he had a biopsy which revealed that it was Metastatic Melanoma.

After the shock wore off, our family doctor made an appointment for an Oncologist at the Amita Cancer Center in Hinsdale. Met with Dr. Wong on Monday, Feb. 5th and he gave us the overall picture….Metastatic Melanoma Stage 4, meaning it has spread to other parts of the body.

We arranged to have two other tests to determine information as to where the cancer has spread. He had a PETScan on Friday, Feb. 9th, and an MRI on Monday, Feb. 12th.

On Thursday the 15th, the Amita Cancer Center’s Tumor Board met to discuss their findings. We then met with Dr. Wong to find out what they found and what they recommended.