Latest Scan Good

As some of you may be aware, Kerry has been having some discomfort in his side (near where his previous liver problems were) -- so he got to have another scan.  They found nothing amiss and assume that it must be delayed effects of the radiation he had last fall.  Not sure if this will be temporary or not -- hopefully it is.

Final Pathology - All Good!

I had a postop follow-up with my surgeon, Dr. Hansen, today and the news was good - No Cancer!  It occurred  to me that it's the first time I've been certified cancer-free in a year.  Feels good - a weight off.  I was back at work last week, off this week for a conference.  I will have scans about every 3 months for a while.    Thanks again for all of your support!

Kerry (+)===i=::

Good News

The doctors did laperoscopic surgery and used ultrasound to guide them while they took several biopsies.  They looked at the biopsies in the operating room and did not see any evidence of cancer.  They assume that the activity they saw on the CAT scan was inflammation from the radiation he got last fall.  They will send the biopsies to be further analyzed by the pathologists.  I was told there is still a 5-10 % chance that they will find cancer in those cells.  The other good news is that they took a tour of his abdomen while they were in there and saw no other evidence of cancer cells.

He will spend tonight in the hospital and tomorrow will come home.  He will take at least a couple of days to recuperate at home.

Thank you everyone for your support -- it makes such a difference knowing you are all out there cheering and praying for him.

January 29

Just an update that Kerry's surgery was delayed several hours and did not start until around 5 pm Portland time.  Will post more info as I have it.

January 27

FYI -- on Tuesday, Kerry's surgery is at 11 am (he has to be there at 9 am).  Sorry if my previous posting led anyone to think the surgery was at 9 am.

January 21

The laparoscopic biopsy is now scheduled for Tuesday, January 29 at 9 am.  If it turns out to be melanoma and there are no other tumors seen outside the liver they may proceed with a liver resection and remove the part of the liver with the tumor.

January 18

After talking to the liver surgeon today, Kerry and the doctor decided to do a different kind of biopsy.  Rather than an ultrasound guided needle biopsy through the skin, they will do an internal laparoscopic biopsy which uses an ultrasound probe which can be placed directly against the liver and will provide the best visualization of the liver for an accurate biopsy.  The date for the biopsy is postponed since the liver surgeon who would do this is out of town next week.  We won't know the date of the biopsy until next week.