The trip to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to see a carcinoid expert ended up being extraordinarily anti-climatic.
Dr. Kulke was nice enough, and smiled a lot. He had all my records and pathology slides. The appointment started with me patiently explaining my myriad of symptoms: heart problems, joint pain, exhaustion, flushing, rashes, fevers, night sweats, nausea, abdomen distention and pressure, leg swelling, and muscle weakness.
After I was done, Gary asked him: "Does any of that sound familiar?"
He just smiled and said, "Not really."
Followed by awkward silence.
Dr. Kulke then summarized his opinion: there is a very low probability the cancer has developed into the syndrome (good news), but he couldn't rule it out since some of my symptoms are consistent with the syndrome (ambivalent news). He advised an octreotide scan (two-day nuclear medicine test) along with a blood test for a NET tumor marker to investigate further. His only other suggestion was to get a good general practitioner. We scheduled the octreotide scan for next week, and a follow up appointment with him in September.
(I also asked him whether he knew anything about the black raspberry powder - he said he had heard some of his patients talk about it but wouldn't put much stock in it.)
Bottom line is: we didn't learn anything new. Everyone agrees that something is making me really sick, but both Dr. Nash and Dr. Kulke concur that there is only a slim probability that carcinoid syndrome is the cause. If the next tests come back negative for additional NET tumors, I'll have to see a slew of new specialists. It feels like deja vu all over again (6 years of misdiagnosis before carcinoid was found).
Don't get me wrong; I am very grateful that my cancer is most likely gone (or at least under control), but I am disheartened that there is no real plan of action to get me better. All I know is that I'm 37 - I am not diabetic nor overweight, I don't drink, smoke or do drugs, I exercise and eat organically - I should not feel like I'm stuck in the body of a 70 year old woman.
Gary and I decided that since the only thing Dr. Kulke offered was a test Dr. Nash didn't want to do - we would call Dr. Nash's office to see if he would change his mind and order the test to save us a trip back to Boston. Rachel (best nurse in the entire world) called today from Dr. Nash's office, and said he wanted me to meet with a different doctor at Sloan Kettering, Diane Reidy, who was well versed in carcinoid to discuss the merits of the new tests and my current condition. I have an appointment with her on September 9th.
Big question: do I cancel the octreotide scan in Boston? Since Dr. Nash doesn't believe in octreotide scans, I assume the new Sloan doctor doesn't either. I'm not exactly thrilled about being injected with radioactive material - but what if it lights up something that explains what's wrong with me? I guess it comes down to trust - and I trust Dr. Nash and Sloan Kettering; and I was really impressed with Dr. Reidy's CV - so most likely I'll say "thanks, but no thanks" to the pleasant Dr. Kulke and "let's get down to business" to Dr. Reidy.
One thing that Dr. Nash's nurse Rachel did say, however, is that I can't put off my cardiology appointment any longer - she's right. It's pretty scary when your heart stops and is so violent in restarting that you cough and shake like a madman; finding a good cardiologist just got top billing on my summer to-do list.
Update August 12th: After talking it over with Gary and my family, as well as other Carcinoid survivors, I decided to keep both appointments: the one in Boston for the octreotide scan and the one at Sloan-Kettering with Dr. Reidy. Until we find answers, we decided that we should see all the "experts" possible and do any non-invasive testing that might help shed some light on this thing.
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