Saturday, March 19, 2011

Gratitude, Big time!

I am so grateful to have come to Mayo Clinic and for the skill, expertise and kindness shown to me there yesterday.  The surgeon there found areas of suspicious calcification that had been missed by the surgeon in Silver City. I am scheduled for surgery to take care of that and other issues on Wednesday. Tom wrote  an email to some of his family that covers yesterday's Mayo visit so thoroughly(the newspaper editor/writer thing) that I have asked him to copy it to the comment area of this post for your information purposes.  I am so fortunate, to be here at this excellent medical facility, to be here with Tom to helpand give me lots of hugs, to be here knowing that I have the support of so many wonderful friends and family.  My thanks to all.  Very positive vibes in Scottsdale this morning!

7 comments:

TOM VAUGHAN & SANDY FEUTZ said...

Dear All,

Without getting too Rumsfeldian, I'll just say it's a relief to have the fog of uncertainty parted at least a little and have the way ahead clearer.

We did our initial Mayo thing yesterday afternoon. Everyone was wonderfully gracious, helpful and on the same team, which is reassuring in itself. The key contact was, of course, the surgical oncologist (or is he an oncological surgeon?) Dr. Nabil Wasif. Pleasant, easy-to-understand and very good at laying out the situation. The initial meeting led to a hurry-up mammogram, which we were then able to discuss with him about an hour later and lay out what will happen next.

The point of the mammogram was to clear up his questions about what else may be in there besides the marginal cancer at the 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock margins of the sample removed in Silver City. Yesterday's views show that there is calcification at each end of that sample that needs to be addressed, too. There is also the question of checking the nearby "sentinel lymph nodes" to see if there is any indication of the cancer spreading.

So, we are on track for Sandy to have a lumpectomy at the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix sometime Wednesday. Some preliminary steps will have to be taken the day before at the Scottsdale Clinic; we're also not sure of the timing on that. We're to be called Monday with the exact schedule. That leaves us a little uncertain as to how to play the next few days, but we've pretty much decided to stay in AZ, rather than trekking back and forth to Silver City. We came prepared to stay into next week and we'd rather be closer than five hours away. Today will be zoo day!

I think Dr. Wasif was very good about laying out options and risks. While this is not something there can be guarantees about, he was very clear that Sandy's chances are very good ... the lumpectomy has a good chance of taking care of the problem, and it leaves mastectomy as a fallback procedure if necessary. As I understand it, the lumpectomy will have to be followed by both radiation treatment and chemotherapy, but he was confident that both of those can be handled at the Cancer Center in Silver City.

In the end, both of us are glad we came to the Mayo and reassured that Sandy is in good hands!

Karen Bittleston said...

Sounds like things are looking up for you two. Half the battle is communication with your doctor, including the trust element, and your own mental attitude. Good idea to just stay where you're at and enjoy the moment. Fingers crossed and good vibes coming your way.

Love to you both,
KB

Sister Vel said...

I am so thankful that you found more angels at Mayo! It all sounds very manageable and POSITIVE. Please ask Tom to give you a couple of extra hugs from your sister.

lorena johnson said...

Thank God you have the clinic and such a wonderful support system. Tom is the best. I am so glad you are keeping us informed on a day to day basis. It helps is to be up-to-date with how you are. Hugs,
Cami

Anonymous said...

This sounds like good news to me! And you both sound, by your writing anyway, positive and seem to be very confident in the care you are receiving.

Keep us in the loop!

Diana Guraedy said...

Sounds like things are looking up! I always feel better when the "waiting period" is over and now have knowledge in hand. I think everyone is this way!

Glad you took the time to go to the zoo. There are a lot of things to do in between seeing the Doctors!

I am a hugger also, so I will send you a big "e-hug" until I can give you one in person.

Unknown said...

Scooby, I have all positive thoughts for you in this matter. I've heard good things about the Mayo. I will keep you in my thoughts and mention you often to the Spirits....Hugs, TM