What I do know:
• I don’t have tumors in my brain.
• I don’t have tumors in my lungs.
• I don’t have tumors in my chest, abdomen or pelvis.
• I love my wife.
What I don’t know:
• I don’t know the outcome of my adrenal tumor biopsy.
• I don’t know whether I’ll be having surgery or going on Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) therapy.
We have spent 11 days and untold thousands of dollars and we really don’t know much more than we knew when we left Seale, Ala. In a fews days(4 or 5) we will have a confirmation on whether or not the adrenal tumor is the third renal cell cancer metastasis. There is better than a 90% chance that it is. Once we have that confirmation, I’ll be having another consultation with new medical oncologist Dr. Lance Pagliaro at M. D. Anderson (probably via email or phone). I’ll also talk to Dr. Andy Pippas at the John B. Amos Cancer Center, Dr. Janice Dutcher at Roosevelt/St. Luke’s in New York City, Dr. Dan George at Duke University Hospital and the members of the kidney cancer forum of acor.org. The question is whether to go the surgery route or the TKI route. That is not a decision we’ll make on our own.
We miss our home. We miss our sons, our family, our friends, our co-workers our church mates and our pets. Tomorrow morning we’ll be heading back that way and we’ll be back home Tuesday or Wednesday. Sweet Home Alabama, here we come!
Just being HOME will be good medicine.
Praying for a safe journey ahead.
23 July 2012
Home is sweet. Home is the best therapy.
I’m in Montgomery and took my son and his
family out to dinner for his 45th birthday.
I’ll be heading home tomorrow. All my
life I’ve been heading home. Someday,
I trust, I’ll really be there.
Peace, Jill and Mike. Wherever you are,
my love, prayers, and hope are with you.
Bill
Thankful for the long list of “don’t haves” and continuing to pray for you both.
Safe journey home! Being at home will be the best medicine ever. After all you have been through if you have to do it, what is a little surgery? You can do it Mike! With a family and God surrounding you, you can do it.
Don’t haves are good. Have a safe and enjoy being together. We will be praying for wisdom and strength as you continue this journey.
Love you
Cindy
Well, I can speak for a couple categories of your peeps, friends and co-workers, and say that you have both been missed terribly! We’re as excited to get you back as you are to be home.
Although the decisions and treatments will come later and with more agonizing than you hoped, I feel like the end result will be a more informed decision and the best possible treatment for you long term.
Safe travels!
Callie
You also DO KNOW that you are loved by a huge Mikey V network of folks. You also know that the hokey pokey isn’t really what it’s all about. You also know that OPPS is missing you more than you could imagine.
I really enjoy reading your blogs and keeping up with you and your family. AND I thoroughly enjoy reading the responses from your friends.
You are loved by so many. We pray. We hope.
Thank you for sharing your life with us.
Buddy says he’s like Dorothy! There’s no place like home! Godspeed!
Travel safely. Godspeed. Know that we have you both in our thoughts and prayers.
Waiting sucks. If this is an RCC recurrence I hope that you can have a surgical removal and be done with it. On the ACOR boards, there are many who are able to go from surgery to surgery and remove the beast. This I’m sure you already know. Have you consulted with Dr. Dutcher in the past? My husband goes for his yearly scans this Friday with her. He is 8 and 1/2 years our from a 12cm, Stage II grade 2 tumor. I remember the doctors using the word indolent and knowing that if you are going to have cancer, indolent can be a good things. Then scan time comes around and the word indolent becomes scary – because each time we wonder will those possible lurking cancer cells show up now? I imagine you are home now and happy to be there. Good luck with the results and any decisions you may need to make. We love Dr. Dutcher and trust her opinion.
Welcome back, Mikey and Jill! I could tell you were gone because the collective local IQ points dropped again. Precipitously. Love, love.