Waiting for results of possible metastatic nodules: Second miracle

I wanted to share my good news in case anyone is waiting for test results. I never thought I would get a second miracle. I was sure it was cancer. My results came back NO malignancy. Blew my mind.

Hang in there anyone. Miracles do happen.

Judy

Where are the nodules located?

Congrats, Judy! Can you give a quick recap (location or type of pancreatic cancer, mutations, etc) for those reading this board?
Thank you thank you for sharing your success story!!

Where are you being treated at?

I am at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. The care and follow-up is Aces. Always responds to questions I post on my Portal and results of everything/procedure is posted immediately.

Judy

The location was at the tail, if that is the bottom. I get the names mixed up. The tumor was inoperable as it was too close to the pancreas. I had five weeks of chemo to shrink it so it was operable. I was told I was cancer free, excellent margins and nodes were clean.

There were no mutations. I don’t know what kind of pancreatic cancer it. Was. The surgeon removed part of the pancreas, part of my stomach, my complete gall bladder and other parts I don’t recall. Possibly my spleen. I had the Whipple procedure.

This was Nov. 2022. I was 83 years old, making me 86 at present. I don’t know if age makes a difference, but I was in excellent shape. Worked out with a personal trainer for 10+ years and a ballroom dancer the last 10 years. Never smoked or drank or did drugs, so I was healthy going into the operation. Also, hadn’t eaten red meat in 30 years.

I kept up with the trainer during my recovery, but had to stop dancing when COVID reared its ugly head.

Judy
Hope that answers your question.

They are located in the plura (sp) that’s the space between the lung and ribs.

A. Soft Tissue, left back posterior/ medial mass, biopsy (touch prep/tissue): Negative for malignancy. Fragments of skeletal muscle and scant fibroadipose tissue.

B. Soft Tissue, left chest wall mass, biopsy (touch prep/tissue): Negative for malignancy. Fragments of hyaline cartilage, skeletal muscle and fibroadipose tissue.

Hope that makes more clear.
Judy

Hi @ellrose45, I join @mnewland99 in celebrating your good news. I merged your 2 discussions about waiting for results and your "second miracle" into one discussion so people can see the timeline and history more easily.

Judy, very glad to hear that miracle happens!!

I had a Whipple surgery in June 2023. In early 2024, nodules started appearing in my lungs, and they have been growing in size and number ever since. But they are still less than 1 cm, so my doc says they cannot do a biopsy. (I had a liquid biopsy, but it was not conclusive.) Meanwhile, my CEA has been slowly increasing; it is now 8.5. It is probably a very good thing that they are growing so slowly, but it has been slowly defeating me mentally for the last 2 years. I have been very careful about what to eat and exercise regularly, but I cannot stop them. Any suggestions on how to stop those pesky nodules? But again, I should be grateful that whatever it is, most likely cancer, is growing so slowly.

@maedanosetchan I completely understand how mentally taxing the nodules can be. I had surgery July 2023, then had lung nodules appear in December 2023. Super tiny but watched them steadily grow until April 2025. At that point, we did surgery to remove 1 and radiation on another. Over the 2 years my CA19 slowly crept up from 16 to 33. Now its back down to 20. There is always hope, and second miracles are twice as nice! 💜