Kate Update

OK, I just spoke with Kate and Rich and there is much to tell.

Today Kate has had a Pet Scan, a chest X-Ray and will get a head CT scan.

They liked the Doctor, Sugarbaker, and he says they still have no idea about what this tumor is, that they still need to do more tests. They are going to do a biopsy of the lymph nodes tomorrow morning and once that's finished, they'll go home, return Tuesday, Dec 9th where they will discuss a plan.

Sugarbaker said that it's looking like a cancerous tumor and when Kate asked, he said he thought there was a 80-90% chance that it is malignant, but he emphasized that he has seen much, much worse that people have survived and that they should "have faith, we will deal with this and we'll go on." They felt reassured to be working with him, and to be at the Brigham.

The process tomorrow will be this: in at 9:30a, with biopsy of the lymph nodes at 11:30a. It's a 20-30 minute procedure, with recovery taking 1-2 hours. Apparently biopsy-ing the surrounding lymph nodes is just as good as sampling the tumor itself, because you don't disturb the tumor, and since the lymph nodes are vaccuum cleaners/filters for the tumor it will give a clear picture of what they're dealing with. The procedure has them making a 2" (I think) incision in the space where the neck and torso meet, inserting a camera and taking a sample. Sugarbaker said he's done this thousands of times, so it should go smoothly.

They'll stay the night at Kate's friends Barb & Julie up in Boston.

They gave me the ok to post all this info on the blog here and requested that phone calls be kept to a minimum today and tomorrow. Katie so much wants to talk to each of us, but doesn't have the energy (or sustained voice) to have many conversations. They expect to be back late tomorrow afternoon, and expect Kate to be pretty wiped out.

I had invited Rich to come tomorrow night, but know that he, too, will be zonked. My own question, not vetted by them: Anyone want to drop a simple meal by tomorrow afternoon?

Kate has trained Rich on posting on the blog. maybe he'll be able to give us more info when they're back. He can take calls on his cell. I have his number.

That's it for now, everyone.

Susan

Right now they are still doing diagnostics: pre--op meetings with the anesthesiologist, testing, etc. Just to make sure they're ready to go.