jenny's belly

Please Step Into My Office

A lifetime ago, July 22, I was so confident it wasn't cancer that I all but challenged my regular doctor to tell me what everyone was concerned about. I nearly fell out of the chair when she told me, and it was another day before I could say "cancer" out loud. The fact my doctor brought me to her office should have been a tip. NO ONE goes into a doctor's personal office complete with requisite library of books and degrees on the wall. Well, except on TV. And it's always bad news on TV. :)

I had my endoscopic ultrasound today. Or so they tell me. My anesthesiologist was great-- a very funny, personable guy, who fully knocked me out. No "you'll be awake but won't care" for me! The last thing I remember was that he put the sticky snaps on my chest meaning he was going to hook up a heart monitor. And then I was in recovery fighting through the anesthesia.

Dr. Thompson wanted to meet with me and my parents in his office (ALERT! ALERT!) but I went anyway. It was actually excellent news-- he does't think the cancer has moved to the lymph nodes, and doesn't think it's moved to any other organs or beyond the outer wall of the stomach. My mother heard a much more definitive "it didn't" but I was still working off the anesthesia so I'm not a reputable source here. :)

I did catch that he doesn't see the cancer in my esophagus-- and this had been a great concern to me. Knowing it's in the stomach is one thing, but there is a lot more to the esophagus than a way to get food down to our bellies. There's a valve which keeps stomach acid from ruining the lining of the esophagus, and... believe it or not, it maintains high pressure in the stomach where there is low pressure in our upper bodies (mainly the lungs). If part of my esophagus, including that valve, had to be removed it's not the end of the world, but it can't be replaced or re-created by doctors.

I have complete faith in Dr. Thompson, and only after the fact discovered he's both the Director of Endoscopy at Brigham & Women's and teaches at Harvard Medical School.

I can't believe the amazing, talented doctors I've had so far. I consider myself extremely lucky!

posted by Jen at 11:21 PM