need to operate the next day. This took me by surprise and next thing I knew I was in the hospital recovering from the surgery. It was Christmas and I was now recovering in my house. My nose had become infected and I was in quite a bit of pain. I guess that I am a real cry baby but the constant pain caused me to cry and the medications were not working.
Afterwards, I went in to see my business colleague, Dr Andrew Dean, a leading oncologist and quite a character. He suggested that I see another surgeon who is an expert in melanoma and I did. Surprise, surprise, this surgeon wanted to do surgery. He mentioned that although the plastic surgeon did the recommended surgery, that a bigger area should be excised. I approved this and next thing I was sent off for a sentinel node assessment at a nuclear medicine facility. The physician injected my chest with a radioactive substance and I have to admit this was very, very painful. I had to then lie under the gamma camera for about 1 hour while they watched the flow of lymph that represents the waste product of the cells. The lymph clearly flowed towards my left armpit. The idea was to remove the first lymph node( like a filter) that the lymph reached. They then biopsy this node to determine if the melanoma cells have reached the lymph system to then stage the cancer( i. e. determine the severity).
Then off to the surgical suite to remove the lymph node and to remove more skin around the melanoma site. Recovering from this surgery that was not painful at all. He had made a much wider cut and the pathology report revealed that he did cut out more of the melanoma. Also the sentinel node biopsy was negative indicating that the melanoma cells did not get into my lymph system.
Following this surgery, each year around Christmas, I had a molecular imaging test called Positron Emission Tomography( PET) that is capable of seeing if there are any tumors in the body greater than 5 mm. The PET scan produces a 3-D image of the functional processes in the body and is combined with a CT( computerized tomography) image to show the structures. Fortunately, for two consecutive years my PET scan was negative indicating that there were no tumors in my body.
But early December 2012, two days prior to our planned trip to New Zealand, I went to the surgeon who was monitoring me and he told me that the scan revealed that I had 4 tumors in my left chest wall and one in my lung. This was devastating to me and Mimi. The surgeon suggested that I still go on my vacation and to tackle this issue on my return. And that’ s what we did. We had the most incredible adventure holiday with my two sons and Mimi.
On my return, I had the first operation to remove the four tumors on my chest wall. This required a skin graph from my leg. I was in the hospital for a total of 2 full weeks as the doctors and nurses watched the skin graph take. One week after the surgery, the nurses removed 12 staples from the lesion and this was incredibly painful. They should have given me some pain killers before hand but they didn’ t do this and I think the reason was that it was for their convenience not mine. The nurses were meticulous to make sure that the skin graph worked. I had a hugh private room and the food was incredible. My first meal was a trout salad with ginger. I was flooded by visitors which really boosted my mental state. My two sons and Mimi were there everyday. I was
PET scanner
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 153 of 156