Oncologist Visit

Today I took Maggie to Calgary to see the Oncologist for a consultation.  Maggie got a very thorough examination and the Oncolgist could not find any swollen lymph nodes, other lumps, or anything out of the ordinary.  She is concerned about the grading of the Mast Cell Tumor that the pathologist gave.  She thinks that it should have been graded as a Grade 2 tumor, not a Grade 1.  A Grade 1 tumor is a single nodule that has not spread.  In the pathology report there were 3 nodules and clusters of hundreds of satellite cells throughout the sample and beyond the margins of the sample, which is not consistent with a Grade 1 diagnosis.  She is having the slides re-evaluated by the pathologist that they normally use.  We will have the new pathology report back in about a week.

Maggie will definately need to have more surgery.  Before that happens, the Oncologist wants to be sure that the Mast Cell Tumors have not spread internally.  Once Mast Cell Tumors invade the internal organs, the prognosis is grim.  So tomorrow, Maggie goes back to the Calgary clinic for the "Full Meal Deal".  She has to have a full days worth of tests done.  They include X-rays, complete blood and urine workups, a bone marrow test, maybe an ultrasound, and some other things that I can't remember.  If those tests all come back looking good, then Maggie can have more surgery.  The Oncologist seemed fairly optomistic that if the tumors have not spread to the internal organs, surgery should provide a cure for this.  

*** Remember when I blogged about how much it cost to have Maggie's broken toe repaired?  Ya well, that was nothing!  The VISA people are going to love me.