Follow-up Oncology Appointment at UCSF

I hope you're having a great day!!

This post is a continuation of my last post. I just obtained copies of the Radiologist findings/reports from my follow-up CT scan of my chest, and my Right leg MRI... and I didn't sleep well the day before this appointment!

UCSF, Here we come!

I'm always excited to see Dr. O'Donnell, Last Thursday, September 5th - I was even more excited.  After reading the radiologist findings, I couldn't wait to see him and see what he had to say!  I was hoping that the Radiologist reports were wrong!  Read my last blog post HERE.

I woke-up at my normal 5:30am time and went to the gym.  This has been my routine since finishing up Physical Therapy in April.  I went to work and came back home around 11:30.  Since you can never predict San Francisco's traffic, Nate and I like to leave early - better safe than sorry.  Im so thankful that I have my husband to drive me all the way out to the city!!

I wore yellow for my appointment - since yellow is the ribbon color for Sarcoma and because Im stronger than Sarcoma!!!

Follow-up Appointment

My appointment was scheduled for 3:10pm and we arrived in the waiting room around 2:30pm.  I was called back almost immediately for my vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, weight, etc).  I returned to the waiting room until a room opened up for us.  Tuesdays and Thursdays Dr. O'Donnell is 'in clinic', which is fancy for 'he's seeing patients and not doing surgeries'.

The current Resident came in first to examine me and start the log notes for Dr. O'Donnell.  I can't tell you how many Residents we have met during my treatment at UCSF, but its been a ton!  Since UCSF is a school, they do a ton of teaching and it's nice to know that they are learning from such a specialized surgeon like Dr. O'Donnell!

Dr. O'Donnell came in an also examined me.  He told me that the Radiologist who typed up my reports didn't compare the images with my last scans.  He seemed irritated that the MRI images weren't done on the high-powered Tesla 3 MRI machine, instead they were done on a Tesla 1.5.  He told me that in the future he wants all of my scans done by UCSF.  He told me that he was trying to work with us to minimize the drive time but, that from here on out we will need to drive out to UCSF.



Dr. O'Donnell's summary:

1. Dr. O'Donnell told me that my thymus wasn't a concern to him.  
2. He told me that he did notice the extra nodule (spot) on my scans.  
3. He also told me that there is now a 3.5-mm bone island on my T-11 vertebral body but, that the images aren't showing a lesion into my bone.  This is good because it is not a concern at this point.  Read about the dangers of a Bone Island HERE
4. He told me that my Seroma has doubled in size and that I have more fluid on my knee than before.  He confirmed that the Seroma has an irregular thick advancing wall and it is giving a bright T2 signal on the MRI (same brightness as my Cancer showed before). 

Sarcoma Tumor Board

Dr. O'Donnell told me that he would like to present my scans to the sarcoma tumor board that will be meeting on September 12th (Next Friday).  He told me that they have the BEST Radiologists and Sarcoma specialists.  He would like them to review the images and he told me that he would call me that Friday or over the next weekend to let me know what they discussed.

Read more about the Sarcoma Board HERE

PET CT Scan

Dr. O'Donnell also would like me to come in for another PET CT scan.  Since over-radiation is a concern (I just had a CT scan done a few weeks ago), He recommended that I wait until next month to get my PET CT scan done.  He added that he might have a hard time getting the PET scan pushed through insurance if we don't wait until next month, because they only pay for one per year.  He looked at my file and realized that the last PET CT scan that I had done was October 25th, 2013.  He told me that he would have his assistant schedule me right after this date so that we wouldn't get any push back from insurance... PERFECT TIMING!

Read more about a PET CT Scan HERE

I was able to talk to Dr. O'Donnell's assistant on Friday, and I have a PET CT scan scheduled for October 27th with a follow-up appointment on the results scheduled for the very next day on October 28th.  Dr. O'Donnell doesn't wait for anything!!!

At this point I don't have anything conclusive to report until after the Sarcoma board meets on September 12th.

I'm hoping an praying for good news!!

Thank you for reading!