Yes it was incidental, just like my original diagnosis. In April of 2017 we were in NJ awaiting to board a cruise ship the next morning. I started having severe pain in the upper abdomen just like I have had a few times before which is hernia related. I believe one gets twisted sometimes which causes the pain so I went to an ER. I only wanted a 4 drug cocktail which in the past has resolved within a couple hours. But of course, thankfully in hindsight, they also wanted to do a CT. That CT showed a lesion on my duodenum and numerous lesions on my liver. Totally unrelated to my hernia. So that’s where my road started over 6 years ago.

To answer your specific question, our team has not yet made a decision yet. My local oncologist wants to cut right to the chase and do a biopsy. I reached out to my oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering, who I went to for a 2nd opinion originally and kept in touch with off and in, and she wants to do a dotatate scan. I’m leaning towards the scan and as the “head” of my medical team, I will win once I’m convinced it’s the best option. I have not had any new or unusual back pain nor other symptoms. I do have lower back pain due to severe stenosis. But that’s in a different area and not related to C7 and T9.

And now you’ve heard most of “the rest of the story”. LOL.