Sorry to hear this Dave. Prayers go to you and family.
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Sorry to hear this Dave. Prayers go to you and family.
Prayers sent.
OP: PLEASE READ THIS!!!!
My dad was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. He as renal cell carcinoma, its terminal. It was first found in his kidney, they took the kidney which weighed 12 pounds and was the side of a grapefruit when they did. He just went to the doctor one day because he was pissing blood and they found it in an ultrasound. They took the kidney, and that was supposed to be it. Then he started having pain in his shoulder. Doctors told him it was bursitis, which is inflammation of the sack of fluid around the joint, I think, I'm a cop not a doctor. Anyway, it ends up being cancer, the entire inside of the upper portion of his humerus (bone inside your upper arm) was cancer. The doctors he was seeing said they had to take the whole arm to fix it. The inside was entirely cancer, just the very outside of his bone was still bone, it was paper thin. He ended up breaking his arm trying to put a shirt on. They NEEDED to take the whole arm, and treat with radiation. Here is the kicker...
My brother is an orthopedic trauma surgeon. Doesn't have a thing to do with cancer, but he talks to a friend who is an orthopedic oncologist. That doctor looks at x-rays, patient file, etc. Says, Noooooooooo, A: (and a quick Google search will advise you of this) renal cell carcinoma doesn't respond to radiation and B: They just needed to replace the upper portion of his bone with a new titanium joint and some cadaver bone.
My father was living in California at the time (where the shitty doctors were) and had to drive to Ohio (where my brother is a doctor, and his doctor friend that actually knew what the fuck he was doing was), with a broken arm, in a Vicodin haze where they did his second cancer surgery for the year. They fix his arm.
About two months ago he starts getting pain in his arm again. But he still has an arm, and can still use it to some degree. He is now living here in Colorado, so he goes to a doctor in Denver. They say there is a mass about the size of a peanut (not shelled, the raw kind) just next to his bone where they had done the surgery. They say they need to do surgery to remove it. He says okay, get it out of there. Keep in mind renal cell carcinoma is very aggressive, and terminal, it likes bones and lymph nodes and spreads quickly. They say, well, the doctor is out of the country on vacation, you'll have to wait until he gets back. (WTF over, is this guy they only doctor that can do this fairly simple surgery?) He waits until next week like they tell him. Then "oh there have been delays" he waits two more weeks. They blow him off again, then last week he said "fuck it" and again drove out to Ohio and the other doctor just cut it out, ended up being just scar tissue, but needed to come out non-the-less.
I'm not saying to drive to Ohio, but I would definitely get a SECOND or even a THIRD OPINION. Not all doctors are created equal. When your talking to one doctor about what another doctor thinks/wants to do and he makes that scrunched "what the fuck?" face at you, you know the last guy you saw is probably a moron, or operating outside of his area of expertise. Keep in mind I don't mean this as a doctor bashing post. My brother is a doctor, and probably one of the best at what he does (no really).
To summarize my dad has had 3 surgeries for cancer in just this great year of 2012. Before this he was a totally healthy guy, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, goes to church, etc. Imagine having that bomb dropped on your life. He prayed and didn't give up hope, I pray you will do the same. KEEP LOOKING for options. There might be a better path out there, or a better doctor that can make better decisions for you, and is willing to put in the work to do the best for you and yours. Cutting an arm of is to be brutally honest, the easy and lazy way to deal with a problem in the arm.
I will send up a prayer for her, and for you and your family and for the doctors and nurses looking out for you. Trust me I know how hard this can be. May god be with you.
Thanks guys. I cant even imagine what is going through her mind. I wish i could make it better for her and her kids.
Thoughts and prayers...
God bless and good luck brother
Prayers inbound! Best of luck Dave!
Our thoughts and prayers are with her, you, and the whole family.
Our prayers and thoughts are with your sister and your family.
Please ask your church elders to pray over her.
God bless.
Prayers sent