Journal entry by Jessie Karlovich —
Hi all!
Long time, no post.
Just wanted to shoot a quick update out to everybody, especially as so many have been privy to the twists and turns of the last month.
On May 27th I had my 6 month PET scan and it came back showing a small increase in activity and size in the remaining tumor mass. Obviously, this freaked everybody out because it did mean another biopsy. My oncologist wasn't super worried, but I definitely was because it could signal a recurrence of the cancer.
Therefore, on June 17th, I had a bronchoscopy (I think I'm spelling that right). Sore throat followed for a few days and then fast forward to today when I just had my follow-up appointment. Also, I love my thoracic surgeon because he is terrifyingly blunt and likes to provide all options. I went into the biopsy thinking that if it came back positive, that meant more treatment of some kind, and if it came back negative, I was most likely going to be scheduled for full-on crazy chest surgery to access the tumor behind my sternum. Thank goodness my oncologist is the optimist to his more pessimistic side!
The biopsy came back negative! The two caveats to that are that they 1) weren't able to biopsy the main tumor mass as it has cleverly lodged itself between my sternum and my heart and is therefore unreachable by a needle from the throat and 2) my oncologist has yet to have the opportunity to speak with my thoracic surgeon post-biopsy regarding his level of confidence in the tissue samples and whether he was able to access all the lymph nodes he felt he needed to for a good biopsy.
But overall, good news. The results are an acceleration in my next PET scan. Instead of 6 months from the last, we are doing approximately 3 months. At that point, if there is further growth, more conversations will have to be had, but right now I can put off feeling nervous or anxious beyond what any cancer survivor normally experiences.
I hope everybody else is doing well! We are social distancing, staying at home, and I'm picking my job hunt back up (I've been waiting for the biopsy results for a few weeks to really send out applications). Morgan is still working from home and Archie is still shedding everywhere and being a snuggle monster.
Thanks for all the care guys!
Love,
Jessie
Long time, no post.
Just wanted to shoot a quick update out to everybody, especially as so many have been privy to the twists and turns of the last month.
On May 27th I had my 6 month PET scan and it came back showing a small increase in activity and size in the remaining tumor mass. Obviously, this freaked everybody out because it did mean another biopsy. My oncologist wasn't super worried, but I definitely was because it could signal a recurrence of the cancer.
Therefore, on June 17th, I had a bronchoscopy (I think I'm spelling that right). Sore throat followed for a few days and then fast forward to today when I just had my follow-up appointment. Also, I love my thoracic surgeon because he is terrifyingly blunt and likes to provide all options. I went into the biopsy thinking that if it came back positive, that meant more treatment of some kind, and if it came back negative, I was most likely going to be scheduled for full-on crazy chest surgery to access the tumor behind my sternum. Thank goodness my oncologist is the optimist to his more pessimistic side!
The biopsy came back negative! The two caveats to that are that they 1) weren't able to biopsy the main tumor mass as it has cleverly lodged itself between my sternum and my heart and is therefore unreachable by a needle from the throat and 2) my oncologist has yet to have the opportunity to speak with my thoracic surgeon post-biopsy regarding his level of confidence in the tissue samples and whether he was able to access all the lymph nodes he felt he needed to for a good biopsy.
But overall, good news. The results are an acceleration in my next PET scan. Instead of 6 months from the last, we are doing approximately 3 months. At that point, if there is further growth, more conversations will have to be had, but right now I can put off feeling nervous or anxious beyond what any cancer survivor normally experiences.
I hope everybody else is doing well! We are social distancing, staying at home, and I'm picking my job hunt back up (I've been waiting for the biopsy results for a few weeks to really send out applications). Morgan is still working from home and Archie is still shedding everywhere and being a snuggle monster.
Thanks for all the care guys!
Love,
Jessie
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