The package from MD Anderson yesterday

I returned home from the Arizona State Fair to a package from MD Anderson - with great trepidation I opened this package to find 2 CD's with images and reports of all of the scans done at Valley Radiology. Notable facts - I actually had 18 nodes on my thyroid, not 6, This revelation begs the question was this fact hidden because this clearly shows how devastating even in the short term that Interferon is to my system? 

Further - the scan from June - prior to my hysterectomy showed that swelling in my uterus had resolved - so why then was I subjected to this hugely invasive surgery and forced into surgical menopause? These are all questions that I may never have answers to and I am resigned to that. I am sharing an article I read recently because yes I would like to recoup the money spent on this unnecessary treatment but more than that I would like to sit across from these doctors and have a dialogue about the choices they made, the impact to my body - today and in the future and most importantly - an apology along with an acknowledgement that they have learned from this experience.

We really do need to change the way we handle medical malpractice in this country and this article outlines a freaking amazing way to do this.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2013/01/27/medical-malpractice-why-hard-for-doctors-apologize/c65KIUZraXekMZ8SHlMsQM/story.html

Enjoy your Sunday!

November 2013

November 1, 2013 I entered Scottsdale Healthcare system to have a wide excision with lymph node mapping and sentinel node biopsy - for those who have not been impacted by melanoma - this process begins in the radiology department. Here radioactive dye is carefully injected into the site of your melanoma - this dye flows through your lymph system to your sentinel nodes where the cancer is likely to have spread. In this process two sentinel lymph nodes were identified by the radiologist and recommended that they be removed. I was then moved to the Greenbaum surgical center to be prepped for the 2 hour surgery and I emerged from this process in extreme pain but able to return home to recover, not realizing that one of the identified lymph nodes had been left. Two weeks later at my post-surgical followup I became aware of the fact that only one lymph node had been removed and biopsied - the explanation from the surgeon was one intended to shut down any further questions. I do this all the time would be a mantra repeated to me in the next 12 months when that inner voice in my head would say - what and why. Two days of processing the fact that I may not truly be a 1B that the cancer could have spread to that sentinel lymph node that was left so now what do I do. In an attempt to understand what my options were I sought the advice of an oncology group that was listed by the site AIM at Melanoma listing melanoma specialists - the group has since been removed because the specialist that got them that distinction no longer worked at the practice. I want to pause briefly on this because here in Arizona we do have a Mayo Clinic however this is not listed on any of the melanoma websites as a location with melanoma specialist - I am not sure why that is but something that to this day makes me wonder about the information provided on these sites.

I have decided that periodically I will be blogging and sorting through the events of the past year so that I can fully understand and review the events of this past year. It hasn't been until recently that I realized the emotional impact of all of this to my body, my mind and my health.

Have a fabulous November 1st and remember to make it a great day