In addition he would remove the sentinel lymph node from my armpit also to check for MCC in my lymph nodes.
He removed four lymph nodes for biopsy and left a drain in my chest for two weeks. The drain was the most aggravating part of the whole procedure. The following week the doctor called me and let me know that the biopsy of the lymph nodes showed 2 out of the 4 nodes with malignant MCC present in them. Because the cancer had metasticide to my lymph nodes he needed to remove all the lymph nodes under my armpit.
However, before proceeding with the second surgery, he scheduled me for a PET scan. This is a Positron Emitting Tomography scan. The machine looks remarkably like a CT scanner only it works in a different way.
I was given an injection of radiated glucose an hour before the scan then left to relax while the injection spread throughout my system. The purpose being that tumors consume glucose in larger amounts than normal cells and if there were MCC tumors present they would glow because of the extra glucose they were consuming.
A few days later I received a call from the doctors nurse and she told me the PET scan was negative. That was good news and she gave me the date for the second surgery to remove all the lymph nodes under my armpit.
If distant tumors had been found beyond my lymph nodes in my armpit there would have been no further surgery. The spread of MCC throughout the body signals the end of the line. MCC does not respond to chemotherapy and tumors inside the body will grow until the body is consumed by them. The medical team will provide palliative care from that point forward until the end of life. Remember back at the beginning when I quoted the literature. MCC...aggressive and lethal, that's the trademark of this cancer.
I am currently going through 5 weeks of 5 days a week radiation on my arm and chest to try to destroy any MCC cells that might remain. Once that is done I will given a PET scan every three months after that to see if the cancer has returned.
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