During this office visit (with Jana taking notes), we were told that the stress, pulmonary and blood tests had cleared me for surgery, but the PET scan had not only shown the tumor in the upper left lobe but indicated some “hot spots” in the center of the chest where the two lungs join. This would require some exploratory surgery to determine the source. If it were cancer, then the treatment plan would be very different because the cancer would not have been confined to the single primary site that had been identified. If the biopsy of the lymph nodes were negative, then the only sign of cancer revealed by the PET scan was the original nodule in my left lung.
Dr. deHoyos reviewed the risks of the surgeries in detail. I signed the release forms for the two surgical procedures.
To avoid further delays, the exploratory surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning. Jana and I wanted to allow time to visit our house in Michigan before the lobectomy (we had not been there for over 7 weeks) and still keep the surgery scheduled for May 12.
A blood T&C (type and cross reference) test had to be completed so Jana and I went to the pre-op testing area immediately. Afterward, it was 1:30 PM and we decided to eat lunch before going home.
