The scar

We were up in SLC again last week for some doctor's visits for Paige. It has been 4 weeks since her surgery and the surgeon wanted to check to see how the wound was healing. The doctor said it looked great! Since he removed so much tissue - there is a little puckering around the edges of the scar - but he said it was normal and would gradually go away. For those of you who haven't seen the scar - it is quite long (it shocked even me when I first took off the bandages) - but the surgeon did a great job with it. I am also thankful that there is only one scar - he went right on top of the scar from the first surgery (it was a lot shorter though). Paige did get some Mederma in her stocking for Christmas - between her and Abby we have been going through quite a bit of that stuff. The doctor also talked to me more about the surgery that had been suggested to biopsy some of her lymph nodes. I had originally gone into the meeting 95% sure that I wanted her to have the surgery (and was going to ask what the chances might be that we could get it before year end since our deductible has been met this year). I changed my mind though - she is not having the extra surgery at this time - and here is why:
- only 15% of sarcoma's are known to spread to the lymph nodes - most go to the lungs first which they have checked and are clean.
- the chance of choosing the right lymph node to biopsy is rare - they would have inserted a dye into her close to where the original tumor was and then monitor where it went - but the doctor wasn't even sure that the dye would take the same path that tissue cells would take.
- if they did find cancer cells in the lymph nodes - the only treatment they could take would be chemotherapy - which is only effective in 8% of cases for this type of sarcoma.
- since they are monitoring every three months for the next few years - he was confident that they will catch any reoccurance or growth before it gets too big.
I am sure there were more reasons that I felt that the surgery was unnecessary - that is why I should have written this post a week ago - but basically - I still feel really good about that decision.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude right now - I am so thankful for wonderful doctors, incredible family and friends and especially the peace that the spirit continues to bring when decisions need to be made.