Here is Chris's explanation:
Ok... preliminary radiologists report and notes showed up on the patient portal this morning... I talked about it with my family first... now time to tell my friends here...The results are... mixed... I guess is the best way of putting it.It's nowhere near as bad as it could be... but it's not as good as we had hoped.First, they confirmed the two large masses or clusters in my neck we already knew about... they're about 1x1 inch, and about 1x.5 inch... consistent with what we saw on the ultrasound.There may also be a third mass in the same area, but its indistinct.There may also be another mass on or next to my vocal cords, but it's also indistinct.... That may be what has been giving me the sore throats... it's probably something, but either it's occculted by the glottis and larynx, or it's small and early. That could mean vocal cord paralysis or even losing my voice permanently... or it could be nothing.That's the good news...The bad news, is that there is distant metastasis.The worse news is that it's into my lungs....BUT...There appears to only be one relatively small nodule thus far... appx 5mm in my lower right lung.If we are INCREDIBLY lucky, it may be a lymph node, and not even be in the lung itself... it's unclear from the report, and I haven't seen the imagery yet.So... that's bad... not quite VERY bad... but it's bad... any distant metastasis is bad, and distant metastasis into the lungs is just about as bad as it can get.The best case, is if its just in a lower lymph node, or it's otherwise a self contained encapsulated nodule. If it is, then they only need to take the nodule and immediate surrounding tissue. We pray we are that lucky... but we're not counting on it.Otherwise, if it's actually infiltrated the lungs... Well, that's not a good prognosis overall... but the nodule is estimated to only be 5mm or so in diameter, so it's small and most likely relatively early. We don't know how aggressive that malignancy is.They may be able to just get the nodule and some surrounding tissue... or I may need a lobectomy of the lower right lung lobe... Once the lung tissue has been invaded, you have to remove a lot of it, to make sure you dont see additional metastasis or recurrence....But it's MUCH better than it could have been.... Now, the most important thing, is we need to move quickly on the lung nodule. If it has actually invaded lung tissue, then it can spread INCREDIBLY quickly... a matter of weeks and it could be much more serious, or even potentially inoperable...Also, a guy my size, any kind of lung operation is incredibly dangerous and difficult... I'm as likely to die on the table as from the cancer... and we may even have trouble finding a surgeon or an anesthesiolgist who will do the job.... So yeah, we are happy it's not as bad as it could be... but it's still pretty bad... and it's now pretty urgent we get moving, in order to keep it from becoming as bad as it could be...If I die of lung cancer having never smoked a day in my life, I'm going to be PISSED...
So not perfect, but not bad. Survivable.
In the meantime...
Got bills to pay. Hot tub to replace (it's the only way Chris can bathe currently, and while the portable one did us very well, it's both too small and dying), a mattress to replace (being bedridden for a full year is hard on mattresses), and life to deal with. As well as a vehicle to fix.
So yeah...
But fortunately we've got our light at the end of the tunnel, and that's no small thing.
We're going to look into Patreon for dealing with the long term costs here, though after I get some actual sleep.
So yeah, unfortunately still need help.
I've still got the GoFundMe up and running, PayPal to chris@chrisbyrne.com also works, Google Wallet to melody.byrne@gmail.com, or hit me up on Facebook. I may not respond today, but I will catch up to everyone when I can.
Thanks all,
Mel
