Encouraging Signs?

I saw the wound care nurse yesterday - we changed the dressings we're using again because the wound started draining more the night before. Sigh. I'd gotten used to one dressing change per day with a minimal dressing. Now, it's back to more drain sponges to absorb the drainage.

I saw the surgeon today and he took a look at the wound. He felt that the satellite lesions near the back were softer. He saw that there was more white tissue that might be slough but he didn't see anything to debride. Dr. F also thought that the increased drainage was a good sign that the chemo was working to kill the cancer.

Also that red area that grew a white tip? I thought it might be cancer, but he didn't; instead, he felt it was granulated tissue - i.e., tissue that was trying to regenerate.

Really? That's an awfully unusual shape for new tissue - a long skinny bump? Am I trying to grow a new lymph node? Better yet, maybe my body's trying to grow a new BOOB!! Ha!!

(Gotta keep a sense of humor!)

He doesn't know how deep the cancer extends, so he's ordering a CT scan. I'll probably have that in the next week or so. Dr. F wants to know where the cancer is so he can make a decision about surgery. I'm curious, too, to see where the cancer's at. I fantasize that it's only under my armpit and the deposits in my bone marrow. I hope that it's gone from my lungs and liver.

My February is very busy so I don't think I'd have surgery before the beginning of March. I'm in Hawaii Feb 2-11, at Eddie's school's tournament Feb 16-18, Las Vegas Feb 20-22, and at a cabin in the woods co-writing an article Feb 25-27.

So, in the absence of any other explanation, I'll take Dr. F's opinion as an encouraging sign that treatment is working.