K
KathyC
Guest
With the ice storm warning, we decided to head to Univ Of Iowa Clinic Mon eve & got a motel room so as not to have to worry about traveling on Tues. Didn't really learn anything new but after looking at all the records & no diagnosis, this dr seemed to think it was definately time for us to be at the U of I; he seemed to be totally blown away by the amount of tests we've had done with no diagnosis. And like all the dr at home, this dr agreed that it LOOKS like cancer but none of the testing says it is. Said he wanted a couple of more days for their path & radiology departs to go over every aspect of this case with a fine tooth comb & they will call us with the next course of action. Did do 2 kinds of PSA tests & both lean toward cancer but yet not with the kinds of numbers he expected for someone with cancer. Physical exam does NOT look like cancer. Will probably do a repeat biopsy of prostate. If he determines once & for all that this is not prostate cancer, he wants us to see their medical oncologist whose job it is to determine if you have cancer anywhere in your body. Only thing this dr did NOT agree with is when our oncologist told us that if it is cancer that it is stage 4 & there is nothing anyone can do except keep DH comfortable. In the meantime, DH has had a MAJOR flare up of his Crohn's disease (1st flare up since '85) which landed us in ER a wk ago. This dr thinks that what is happening in the lymph nodes might be related to the Crohn's & not cancer but that still leaves us with lesions on the spine & nodules on the lungs. So no answers yet, but now we have some really big guns putting their heads together to solve this case. I explained to this dr that we have NO complaints with any of our dr at home but I felt that perhaps it was time for us to go some place that sees more of the unusual cases to get an answer--he agreed that from all the reports from these dr that they had been trying very hard to get to the bottom of this but said I was right in moving to a larger hospital & he is hopeful that they will find answers for us. We told the 2 dr we saw yesterday that regardless of what it is, we just need an answer as we had been living on an emotional roller coaster of stage 4 cancer-no cancer-stage 4 cancer for too long. Right now I am physically exhausted (don't sleep well at all) & am emotionally drained. After much discussion, we reluctantly canceled our Panama Canal cruise we had planned for next fall; booked it several months ago & were really looking forward to it. Even with very good insurance we are putting out a lot on out of pocket, co-pays, & certain things insurance does not allow & come Jan 1 we have to make our out of pocket again for the coming yr. Even if DH health were to make a big turn around, we just can't afford it this yr & he is using up so much of his built up time from work for all of these dr visits & tests. So folks this is where we are for now & with the holidays fast approaching I don't expect any real answers til after the 1st of the yr.
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