A little something more

 

These are pictures from the inside of my stomach.  Fun?

It's been an anxious month of waiting (nothing new) as I planned and then had an endoscopy and colonoscopy to confirm results from the PET scans. The scans had seen nothing in my stomach or in my small intestine and shown some mysterious "activity" in my lower bowel.

The visual inspection of my stomach and colon was good.  While I still have evidence of a hernia and did show a little scarring consistent with radiation therapy, there was nothing else of note visually.  The procedure itself was uneventful. 

I received the pathology report this morning. Everything in my colon was negative, but in my stomach they did find a small piece of MALT lymphoma remaining.  It's unclear what the next course of action will be.   Originally, I was told they wanted to wait six months before doing the follow-up endoscopy because it just takes that long for the radiation to work fully.  They did the endoscopy after three months because of the mysterious "activity" in my bowel.   So the course of action may well be to do nothing and repeat the biopsies in six months.   Alternatively, there is an antibiotic treatment that may be indicated.  There may be a small dose chemotherapy agent indicated.  They may want to do more radiation -- or some combination of these.

I got this information from the gastro doctor who did the biopsies.  He had limited information and referred me back to the oncologist, whom I will see Wednesday afternoon.  So more information should be forthcoming then.  In any case, the mass is a slow growing (or slow-shrinking) issue, and there are still many tools available.  So, while disappointed in the moment, I remain confident of a full recovery.

I confess to being perhaps overly optimistic and to backsliding on my diet and self-care in recent weeks.  So it's time to get back on the horse of aggressively healthful nutrition, more regular exercise, and more spiritual focus on my own healing.  I invite participation from friends and family on all three counts.  Thanks.