I am sitting in Bangkok, having just left Bumrungrad Hospital with James. We visited today with Dr. Theera Umsawasdi, a thoracic oncologist. He is a lovely man, quite upbeat for someone who deals with cancer patients for a living. (Maybe they are all that way? But I would be sooo depressed. =) )
James has not been diagnosed with cancer, though there are a few things that make Dr. Theera suspicious. James has RMLS (which is a partially collapsed lung). He also has a small growth in his lungs (less than 1cm). And his X-ray has a bit of cloudiness that makes him concerned. (He was more concerned with the Xray than the CT scan.) He has has had a persistent cough for 8 months.
Given James's age, gender, and non-smoking history/health, there are lots of things that don't add up to cancer. So, as Dr. Theera says, "It is still quite early" (with a beaming smile).
So, we are doing some additional tests. Today James had blood work done and urinalysis. He also had a chest X-ray. Dr. Theera sent James's biopsy slide (which he had done in Kunming) to pathology. He would like to see if they can get a definite positive or negative read for cancer based on the slide. If not, James will have another bronchoscopy.
James will see Dr. Theera on Wednesday at 10am Thai time and we'll go from there.
In the meantime, please pray for us! Pray for a quick diagnosis. And golly, we would love if it was not cancer, so you can pray for that too. =) Pray for our girls, they are all in the care of friends/relatives back in Dali. And pray for our staff, that they will all work together well in our absence.
No comments:
Post a Comment