Lymphovascular Invasion
Should I get the poop talk out of the way first? I mean, this topic seems to be what my life had devolved to, writing a blog about cancer and poop, and it looks like it's primarily content about poop. It's the same as the last post. If you've not been keeping up, go back to every post before this one, there's a ton of descriptive posts about my poop. Read those posts, sicko!
Health-wise, I've been feeling pretty good! Recovery is a series of peaks and valleys. One moment I'm doing laps around the sixth floor of the Parkview Tower and feel like I have a ton of energy. Other moments I'm tired after getting out of bed and walking across the room. So weird.
If you've been a long-time reader, there has been some concern about my hemoglobin levels. The good news is that my levels have gone up to 8.3. The variable is that they also took me off of the blood thinner that I've been on since surgery. There has been some thought that the blood thinner might hinder healing that needed to happen between the connections of my colon, leading to blood loss. So the troubleshooting questions I'm asking are: Did I heal up enough to stop the blood loss and oozing (their word, not mine), or is the blood thinner the culprit to the ooze and blood loss. I received a dose of the injectable (ouch) blood thinner late this morning. Later tonight, I will have another blood draw and see if my levels are stable. Then, the Parkview tower will have one less Mexican to worry about, much to their detriment.
So that's it for today; thanks for readi...
You didn't think I'd address the title of the post, did you? Well, it relates to the stage of my cancer diagnosis. The surgeon himself called and informed me that the pathology report returned and that the cancer is rated STAGE 2 CANCER! As soon as I calmed down, I listened to what the rest of the surgeon said; he may or may not have asked me to settle down first. The additional information he told about my cancer is that there is some lymphovascular invasion. It is still a stage two cancer, but it's a bit more complicated. He wanted to refer me to medical oncology, but I let him know that I am visiting the oncologist during the first week of December. His thoughts were that chemotherapy is likely, but the oncologist will work out those details.
What is lymphovascular invasion? Good question! Here is a link:
https://www.mypathologyreport.ca/definition-lymphovascular-invasion/
The short version is that there is a presence of cancer cells in the blood or lymphatic vessels. The critical thing is that the cancer cells are not present in the lymph nodes. I would have preferred a clean stage two; I will take ANY stage two diagnosis.
So now you're up to date. Thanks for reading and following along.
Keep the prayers and vibes coming; it helps, it really really does.
