I have to be honest with all of you, I have been putting off writing this post for awhile now because it has taken some time to get a grip on, and to accept. After the fight to have my ultrasound results read and the clear PET scan I told you all about in my last post the pain and swelling in my groin did not go away. I had my colonoscopy, which was clear, and another CT scan which was clear before seeing my oncologist to get my port removed. At this appointment with him he saw the swelling for the first time in person and ordered a repeat ultrasound. The inguinal lymph nodes on my left size had grown and formed into spheres. Next, he ordered a biopsy, and on August 10th I was told that signet ring cells are in my left inguinal lymph nodes. 

This was only 3 weeks before school is supposed to start. This means the 6 months of chemo was ineffective. This means more treatment. 

These were the main things I had to come to terms with before opening up to you all and I didn't want to write to you without a plan.  So the plan is... removal of the bilateral effected nodes. This will be done at Brigham and Women's on September 10th by a GYN oncologist from Dana Farber. After that the nodes will be sent to pathology to find out if I am a candidate for immunotherapy. The plan also includes beginning school next week. 

I am mostly in shock still, and a bit in denial, but I am grateful that my program is being flexible and supportive in letting me begin this fall instead of pushing my start date back another year and I am grateful that I continued bringing up the pain and swelling despite the 'clear' CT and PET scans. 

As always I will try to keep you updated on here as the surgery approaches. Attached is a picture of me at Brigham before my biopsy with my mask on for COVID-19 that I thought you would all appreciate.