The Next Step

As I said earlier, my mother was scheduled for brain surgery on Monday. Last Friday she had her pre-op chest X-ray and blood work. She called me Friday afternoon and informed me that the chest X-ray showed what they are referring to as a nodule. They scheduled her for a lung biopsy for this morning.

This involves a local anesthesea and removal of a piece of the lung through a needle. Then the tissue sample is tested for malignancy. The Radiological Interventionist asked her if she had recently had a CT scan on the lung area and when he heard she had not, he set her up for that first. A half an hour later the doctor came back out and said that the CT scan showed a calcified spot and not a nodule. He said in his opinion that the CT scan did no show anything suspicious. No biopsy was done and we were back at square one and still had a brain tumor to deal with.

So, back to the neurosurgeon we went and now it was no longer my parents and I(I have five brother and sisters). It was now my parents, myself, one of my brothers and one of my sisters. Imagine being a busy doctor and seeing all of us walking in your direction. The doctor proceeded to present my mother her options based on her latest developments. But the Radiological Interventionist recommended a PET Scan, which is a type of X-ray that identifies potential cancerous spots and my brother grabbed onto that suggestion with everything he has.

I feel so sorry for my mother, because there is a definite divide in what her children think her next step should be. My parents were presented with a lot of information in a very short amount of time and are somewhat overwhelmed. My brother seems dead set against surgery. But without, at the very least, a biopsy, we will never know if the tumor is benign or malignant. And to some people it may not matter, but without this information they will not plan a course of action and for some people that would also be okay. But I am not sure that is okay with her.

While at the consult with the neurosurgeon, a lot of questions were asked. My brother asked a lot of questions and some of the questions he asked several times over, almost to the point of frustration on the part of the surgeon. My mother also feeling the same way, exclaimed she was hungry and going to get some breakfast. My father is very quick to make decisions and immediately asked the surgeon when my mother could get back on the surgery scheduled. My mother very quickly said “not so quick.” She does not make her decisions as quickly.

Although I am relatively sure she will opt for surgery, she just wants to digest the new developments and think it through thoroughly. The surgeon said she would most likely be having it next week. My parents will be staying with me when the time comes, but I am torn between being there for all these appointments, if my brothers and sisters are present. It is the uncertainty at the current time that is driving me crazy. I was beginning to come to terms with the idea of cancer, but we don’t know with any certainty that is what she hasand it sounds like it will be several more days before we will know.