The Beginning

Here’s from the beginning. I had noticed a few pangs and twangs since October. My first thought was shoulder problems, maybe a rotator-cup issue. I had a little numbing in my left arm~ coming and going. As most of you know, I am not a person who runs to the doctor. I just thought I would wait it out. At the end of December I was have some real chest pain on my right side, but it also came and went. I finally decided that I was 53 and needed to grow-up and get a real doctor. I ask a few of my, what I consider to be reliable, researching friends who their doctors were and I booked an appoint with an Internist, Dr. Albert Mosqueda, but it was two weeks before I could get in to see him as a new patient. On January 7th, AJ and I were out to dinner, and I really was hurting on my right side...so badly that I had him drop me off at the Med Clinic at 10 pm. They took a chest x-ray and the doctor told me I had “costochondritis,” an inflammation of the cartilage of one or more ribs, most commonly the second or third ribs. I thought ‘oh brother,’ and I googled it as soon as I got home. Amazingly, he was right, all my symptoms match and I went to sleep thinking ‘great’ and I will see my new doctor in a week.

I was ready to go to Dr. Mosquesda, mainly because my right side had stopped hurting, but my left side was starting to hurt, and still numbing. Three days before that I cough and hear or felt a ‘pop’, and then it really hurt, almost like a cracked rib would feel. I thought I would stick it out for just a few more days......well, Lucas’ grandmother passed away, and I had to move my doctor’s appoint for another two weeks, Februar12th. Okay...well I really started to hurt and tried to move it up, but there were no slots. I finally arrived at the doctor’s office to meet the ‘Oh, so cute!’, Dr. Mosqueda. All of 43, but I really liked him. Since I had no medical information to speak of, his recommendation was to run a battery of test in order to establish a baseline for me; blood work, upper GI (because of my acid reflux), and this new thing call a CT Calcium Scoring scan. Now insurance doesn’t pay for the calcium scoring, but it was only $75, so I decided....let’s do it. Especially being a woman and all the heart-disease stories you hear about in women~ and after all, it was just a scan...no needles! You people who know me, know that I am really turning a leaf ‘over’ here, not only am I in a doctor’s office, I have accept to take this whole battery of test. Go Terry!

Blood on the 17th, upper GI thing on the 18th, and Thursday, February the 19th I had the Heart Scan thing. Dr. Mosqueda called me that afternoon to give me the good news!~ My calcium score a “0”, no plaque, nothing, clear as a bell. However, the fortunate thing about this particular scan is they can get a peripheral, so to speak, view of the chest. And there were some extracoronary findings; a small mass, 1.5 x 3, cm on my left side. The descriptive words used by the radiologist were, “destructive bony lesion...this soft tissue mass...is concerning for a metastatic depositor even a component of myeloma.” The reporting doctor suggested a CT of the chest, abdomen and pelvis areas. And a PET CT would further findings as well as a biopsy, if clinically warranted.

Dr. Mosqueda set the path for at needle biopsy with CT the next day and on Monday the 23rd a PET scan. I couldn’t do the needle biopsy on Friday because of insurance approval. So I waited. I did the PET scan on Monday the 23rd, and again Mosqueda called me to tell me the unfortunate findings, but nothing is sure....not enough information. He sets a meeting with an Oncologist, Dr. Gia Dice, for the next day, the 24th, in anticipation for my needle biopsy that was already schedule for Wednesday the 25th.

Dr. Dice is amazing. AJ and I were both impressed with her knowledge, straight forwardness, her presentation of the information, her exactness and attention to detail, but also......she could be on “Grey’s Anatomy” or “The Practice,” if anyone watches those TV shows. She too, like Dr. Mosqueda, is young,....but really at AJ’s and my age, what doctor isn’t? I really like Dr. Dice! She took 9 vials of blood and is running extensive labs on me, marking all cancer types, said the biopsy report probably would be ready until Friday, but she would call and update me daily on the progress of the results. Dr. Dice called Wednesday evening (the day of the biopsy) and said it just isn’t ready yet, and again on Thursday at 9:30 pm, to tell me this: the “biopsy proved to be inconclusive.” Which means, not putting an end to doubt or question, just that there is not enough evidence to say either way? So that is a good thing!

Dr. Dice’s feels more tests are needed, others that will yield more results, and is going to consult with a surgeon today on exactly how to achieve getting a larger piece of tissue. However, she wants to wait until she gets all of the labs from the blood work which should be here by mid-next week. So we wait patiently.

So there you have it! I love you all, and I love that there are so many friends and family behind me and willing to go the distance with me (what a cliché, but sometimes a cliché’ is the best way to say it!). The amount of prayer lists and chains are over whelming to me and awesome. I thank God for those many, many blessings. I promise that I am going to do what it takes. I will admit, “It” is a little scary, but as I said “it,” not “me.” My plan is to start a blog, but I am waiting to get a firm diagnosis, and besides, you know...it has to be artistically pleasing to MY eye!

Know that I am not fearful, I know God is with me. I leave you with one of my favorite scriptures, Psalms 50:15 ~ And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. My life is constantly blessed and I love giving all the glory to God. Much love to you all.

T.