Updates on the Val front: biopsy results

Dear friends,

Last night we had more than 10 friends with us as we awaited the call from the pulmonologist who performed Val’s biopsy on Tuesday. Dr. Rettmann called around 7:00 (after his surgeries for the day) and was informative, compassionate, patient and helpful.

Here is what he told us about the results of Val’s biopsy:

The biopsy confirms that Val has lung cancer.
It is a non-small cell cancer. Its subcategory is adenocarcinoma (which means it forms glands). This is apparently a rather rare type of cancer known to strike young women: generally young women with negligible or no smoking history. Val, who quit smoking 7 years ago, falls into this category – the doctors waved off her smoking history as not being a factor.

The cancer is at stage 4. This means it is no longer isolated to the main tumor or isolated lymph nodes. This also is why surgery is not a treatment option. The pulmonologist says he saw nodules of cancer in Val’s other lung (her left lung). She will have an MRI and a PET scan next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday. (A PET scan searches for metabolic “hot spots,” indicating unusual cell activity.) These will tell us if the cancer has spread anywhere else.

So then Thursday we will meet with the oncology people for the first consult. (This appointment was originally scheduled for June 23, and when I asked Dr. Rettmann if that was soon enough, he promised to call over and speed things along, which he did – this morning they called us with the new appointment date.)

When I asked, Dr. Rettmann said he expects that treatment will begin very shortly after next Thursday’s consult, probably within a few days or a week. Treatment will include chemo and probably radiation, which could be helpful if focussed directly on the main tumor. We will have a team consisting of a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, chemo nurses and oncology social workers. Dr. Rettmann will remain available to us for any lung questions and offered to answer any other questions he can, any time, giving us his direct email.

Apparently the oncology dept. participates in a number of clinical research trials, and Dr. Rettmann strongly encouraged us to participate in those.

So that’s what we know so far.
A couple friends of ours have (very unfortunately) been down this road several times before, and one of them is a paramedic, so they are able to provide us with great support as we navigate this new world. They helped us come up with many of our questions for the doctor. Other friends have hopeful stories to inspire us, and others are sharing their expertise in naturopathy, acupuncture, web development, nutrition, massage and more.

We are still very much in shock (and grief, rage, confusion, disbelief, terror) so it has been wonderful to have so many friends around. We will be asking our families to come out as well, in shifts, as we know more about our schedules. We may not be able to answer every phone call and email very quickly, but we very much welcome them. Please do call and write. We know there is hardly anything useful you can say, and it’s impossible to live this with us exactly, but your love has kept us afloat through this awful week and it’s making a huge difference in keeping us hopeful. Just “hello out there” makes a wonderful difference and we don’t expect you to have answers or wise words. We expect you are just as horrified and bowled over as we are.

Within the week we expect to have a simple web site up, certainly with a blog to keep you informed, probably with a calendar so people can sign up to bring us dinner, mow the lawn, tickle us under the chins, etc. I’m also trying to keep a list of ways we could use help so as to offer practical ways people can be involved. We invite you all join us for this insane adventure however you are able.

Lots of love,
Deborah and Val

p.s. I’m sure we’ve missed lots of people as we put our mailing lists together. Please help us keep people in the loop and feel free to share info with people who know and love us and you. And take care of yourselves, too. Eat grapes. Take naps. Play music. Hug whoever needs huggin’.