Please help reduce my stressing...test results may indicate cancer

Went to the oncologist yesterday. My Valley Fever result came back right before my appointment, which was negative. After seeing how serious he looked during the appointment, I asked the ortho oncolgist, from his experience, what the odds were that it was cancer. To my surprise, he said 65 percent! 🙁 However, I'm still trying to remain hopeful that it's benign. I have my biopsy tomorrow (talk about quick scheduling!), so I should have tests back by next week.

This is an emotional rollercoaster!

Thank you Sir for that info. I have an appointment with my oncologist on Tuesday. I was referred to him by my ortho doctors office, due to the report by the radiologist. I have never met him. I've never had any incidence with cancer, so as you can imagine, hearing of this report was very shocking. I understand my father had lung cancer (most likely due to being a longtime smoker, which eventually spread to brain cancer, due to him choosing to not receive proper medical care).

So if you may be willing to share, what type of cancer were you diagnosed with, after the biopsy? I understand your MRI report had some of the same wording as mine? How many cm of your bone marrow was displaced? Is that your tibia, as well? Do you have a soft tissue mass also?

Thanks.

Good afternoon @jeremy17, I just stopped by this discussion to see how things were going for you. I notice that you had a meeting with your oncologist. How did that go? What did you learn? Was it helpful to have your wife with you to take notes. and what kind of a reception did your list of questions get from the clinician?

In your reply, you asked me some questions. I wanted to make sure and get back to you after my appointment. Also, I wanted to clarify my sentence about having the same words on both your report and mine. I was referring to standard terms like malignant, benign, tissue, cell, carcinoma, etc. My symptoms are not the same as yours.

So here is mine.
Diagnosis: Invasive well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma.

Essentially, this means that the tumor that connects with my sternum is malignant. The first step is another surgical procedure next week to make sure everything is removed. Then there will be more tests after healing and some thought about continued prevention if required. So I will probably be doing some treatment research.

Where are you in your journey? I am very interested in your progress emotionally as well as physically. Staying calm and controlled is very healthy. Having a "buddy" to be with you is a major plus when it comes to managing health issues. I am very lucky in that department. I hope you are also working together as partners with your team of clinicians and your wife/family.

May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Chris

Good afternoon @jeremy17, I just stopped by this discussion to see how things were going for you. I notice that you had a meeting with your oncologist. How did that go? What did you learn? Was it helpful to have your wife with you to take notes. and what kind of a reception did your list of questions get from the clinician?

In your reply, you asked me some questions. I wanted to make sure and get back to you after my appointment. Also, I wanted to clarify my sentence about having the same words on both your report and mine. I was referring to standard terms like malignant, benign, tissue, cell, carcinoma, etc. My symptoms are not the same as yours.

So here is mine.
Diagnosis: Invasive well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma.

Essentially, this means that the tumor that connects with my sternum is malignant. The first step is another surgical procedure next week to make sure everything is removed. Then there will be more tests after healing and some thought about continued prevention if required. So I will probably be doing some treatment research.

Where are you in your journey? I am very interested in your progress emotionally as well as physically. Staying calm and controlled is very healthy. Having a "buddy" to be with you is a major plus when it comes to managing health issues. I am very lucky in that department. I hope you are also working together as partners with your team of clinicians and your wife/family.

May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Chris

Sorry for the delay everybody. Unfortunately, I was, in fact, diagnosed with cancer. However, it's a low-grade b-cell lymphoma (replacing some bone marrow), and associated low-grade follicular lymphoma (in the form of a soft tissue mass next to my tibia bone.) I understand even non-Hodgkins lymphoma is pretty treatable, especially since its low-grade. I'm just glad I now know exactly what it is.

The surgical oncologist that informed me about my biopsy results stated that he doubted surgery would be necessary. I imagine I'll need radiation and possibly chemotherapy. However, if there's an option to only do radiation and possibly have effective results, then perhaps I'll consider that. I've heard chemotherapy has negative consequences, but I suppose radiation does too.

I have my first appointment with my oncolgist on Tuesday, and I'll certainly have a bunch of questions for him. It's been an emotional rollercoaster so far, but I'm improving in this regard a little, as I have an awesome family and friend support team.

Thanks in advance for all of your continued prayers.

Jeremy

Sorry for the delay everybody. Unfortunately, I was, in fact, diagnosed with cancer. However, it's a low-grade b-cell lymphoma (replacing some bone marrow), and associated low-grade follicular lymphoma (in the form of a soft tissue mass next to my tibia bone.) I understand even non-Hodgkins lymphoma is pretty treatable, especially since its low-grade. I'm just glad I now know exactly what it is.

The surgical oncologist that informed me about my biopsy results stated that he doubted surgery would be necessary. I imagine I'll need radiation and possibly chemotherapy. However, if there's an option to only do radiation and possibly have effective results, then perhaps I'll consider that. I've heard chemotherapy has negative consequences, but I suppose radiation does too.

I have my first appointment with my oncolgist on Tuesday, and I'll certainly have a bunch of questions for him. It's been an emotional rollercoaster so far, but I'm improving in this regard a little, as I have an awesome family and friend support team.

Thanks in advance for all of your continued prayers.

Jeremy

Sorry for the delay everybody. Unfortunately, I was, in fact, diagnosed with cancer. However, it's a low-grade b-cell lymphoma (replacing some bone marrow), and associated low-grade follicular lymphoma (in the form of a soft tissue mass next to my tibia bone.) I understand even non-Hodgkins lymphoma is pretty treatable, especially since its low-grade. I'm just glad I now know exactly what it is.

The surgical oncologist that informed me about my biopsy results stated that he doubted surgery would be necessary. I imagine I'll need radiation and possibly chemotherapy. However, if there's an option to only do radiation and possibly have effective results, then perhaps I'll consider that. I've heard chemotherapy has negative consequences, but I suppose radiation does too.

I have my first appointment with my oncolgist on Tuesday, and I'll certainly have a bunch of questions for him. It's been an emotional rollercoaster so far, but I'm improving in this regard a little, as I have an awesome family and friend support team.

Thanks in advance for all of your continued prayers.

Jeremy