Scan Results

Hi, this is Scott.

Sorry for the lack of update over the past few days but as it was Crystal and I just needed a little break. I know you're all wondering what the results of Emily's test was on Friday and I'll share that with you now.

We went to Loyola Friday afternoon and we're immediately taken in by the nuclear medicine department. Emily had to lie on her back, completely still, on a narrow table while a camera was lowered with two inches of her nose to take pictures. She had to lay still like this with the camera over her head for about five minutes before the table below began to move. Her body was slid across the face of the camera for a complete body scan. The purpose of this scan was to detect radioactive waves inside her body that would have been taken in by thyroid cells in the form of cancer which could have potentially spread to her lungs or even her bones.

After this complete body scan the camera was repositioned above her throat and her head was tilted back in order to raise her neck. She remained in this position for five minutes while the camera took a close up of her neck.

After this test was complete we were moved to another room with another camera. The last camera was a flat device about 2 feet square. This new one was a cone shaped apparatus that came to a dull point. Again Emily was laid on her back on a table and positioned under the camera. The camera was lowered again to about 2 inches from her neck. It was kind of funny because the technician had to put pillows under Emily's neck because the camera wasn't designed to lower down far enough to reach her tiny little neck. She had to lay still in this position for ten minutes!

With about 2 minutes remaining in this test Dr. Wagner (the director of nuclear medicine we mentioned in our last post) asked if he could see us in the other room. He pulled up some images on a computer screen and began to describe what we were seeing. The monitor showed two glowing spheres. One was slightly oblong at the center of the screen, and Dr. Wagner told us this was the left over thyroid that they expected to see. The other was just to the right and was smaller. This, he informed us, was a tumor that he felt needed to be surgically removed before radiation treatments were started.

Crystal immediately broke down crying and I stood there slightly stunned. He told us that we could start radiation treatments now and attempt to eradicate this tumor through such means, but that in his opinion the radiation treatments would be more effective if the area that needed to be treated was smaller. Thoughts started going through my head like why didn't Dr. Brubaker (her first surgeon) get this tumor in the initial surgery. I then remembered that Dr. Brubaker had mentioned after her first operation that he had intentionally left some tumor that was wrapped around her vocal chord nerves in order to preserve Emily's voice. I mentioned this to Dr. Wagner and he said it was quite possible that this was that same tumor. He also said he did not yet read the operative report that I had given to him on our last visit. I asked him if it was possible that this tumor was be visually undetectable through surgery and he confirmed that it was very possible.

Anyway, he referred us to a surgeon at Loyola that we could talk to and who would be able to determine if this tumor was operable or not. Of course this was Friday afternoon and that doctor was gone for the weekend so his nurse is going to call me tomorrow to schedule an appointment to see him this coming week. As we went back to get Emily a very important question popped in my head. I asked Dr. Wagner if it would have been a good idea to get this scan before her initial surgery to find the exact location of all of her tumors. He assured us that when a patient still had there thyroid this test is impossible because the thyroid itself would take up all of the iodine and all of the other tumors would not be detected.

On the way home from the hospital we broke the news to Emily that she might have to go back for more surgery. I looked at her in the rear view mirror and could see her fighting back tears for a few moments. We asked her how she felt about this news and she said she was fine with the surgery part of it, it's just that she gets so hungry before because they won't let her eat anything the night before her surgery. She also asked if the surgery was going to be at Loyola or Sherman and said that she would much rather have it at Sherman because they have softer needles (the woman who drew her blood at Loyola was pretty rough with her).

This week we have appointments with Emily's oncologist on Tuesday, her endocrinologist on Friday, and the surgeon at Loyola somewhere between. If we're lucky we'll be able to get that appointment right after one of those other appointments which would save us a trip to Maywood (long ride).

Emily also started taking her synthroid this morning. If she does have another operation the doctors want to wait a few weeks to five her neck time to heal between them. She doesn't mind the Synthroid because it's just one swallow pill, not a chewable or liquid. Right now she is taking 8 calcitrates per day, 10 Tums, and the one Synthroid. Whew! The only one she really doesn't like taking is the Tums because she doesn't like the taste. We're going to talk to her endocrinologist and our pharmacists to try and find something she can take as a swallow pill to get her elemental calcium.

I think that's everything to report at this time. We'll be back to let you guys know what's going on after our next appointment. My guess is that Crystal will stop by some time between to share a few of her own thoughts.

Thanks to everyone for you prayers and help.

Scott

***EDITED***

Hi this is Crystal. I don't have much to add other than when I first heard the news of the great possibility that Emily will need surgery again I was just terrified and so sad. I tried my best to hold back the tears but I couldn't they just came flooding out. The first surgery was pure torture for me to just be perfectly honest. We were expecting Emily's surgery to be 4 hours at the most and it turned into 8 long fearful hours. After that we didn't even get to see Emily (because she had a collapsed lung they were working on) for almost another 2 hours. Although I did see her briefly for about 5 minutes and she looked so bad and just to see her like that was so painful for me. So to hear that Emily might very well have to have surgery again was a great shock and just so very hard to hear.

The next day though I was keeping pretty busy and decided that I am just not going to worry about this today because I wasn't really quite sure what we were going to be dealing with exactly. So pretty much most of yesterday I was fine and I had a really fun day. The kids and I went to lunch with my mom and 2 of my sister's (thanks Mom and Georgie for treating us!!). Then after that, during Madison's nap, Emily and I went shopping with my mom and it was overall just a fun day. While away at lunch and shopping Scott stayed home to work on our house.

Last night though Scott went to bed really early (8:30) because he was so tired from all of the hard work he had done on the house. So I was up alone and I started to think about Emily and just tried to process everything and I started to just get so scared. I am worried about so many things. First I'll just say it....I am afraid she could die during surgery. Ugh, I just really hate saying that outloud or writing it. I know that lots of people have had to have a lot more surgery than Emily (like poor Candace) but this is a real fear for me. Second I am afraid that this tumor is the one by her vocal cord and maybe it will get damaged and Emily won't be able to do her favorite thing to do which is sing or talk. Then I am afraid that if this is inoperable what will that mean? Will it mean they won't be able to get all of the cancer out? I am just plain terrified, I'm doing my best to try and be open and honest with my feelings and to at the same time remember that Emily is in God's hands and that He has a perfect plan for her. And to remember to trust Him and to lean on Him and that He will carry us threw this. But it's just hard to do that some moments, some days.

OK well before this post gets too much longer I will just end it here. To be very honest I feel extremely vulnerable right now and slightly exposed because this is the internet and you are just reading words that I wrote and you can't hear my tone and I can't express every thought or feeling I am having because I am just a hurricane of emotions. So ya I feel...vulnerable.

Thank you everyone again for continuing to pray for Emily and for us. Your comments, e-mails, phone calls, cards and gifts, our neighbors providing us food, and when you stop us at church to talk with us, that all makes this SOOOOOOOO much easier on us. We really feel blessed by you all.

Love,
Crystal