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When Cancer Returns
Dealing with tough choices
On September 26, 2024, I wrote an article titled “On Hearing These Three Words” where I shared my wife’s diagnosis of Myxofibrosarcoma, a very rare cancer.
In November, my wife had surgery to remove the mass from her right thigh. Between the initial diagnosis and surgery, the mass had more than tripled in size, which is not good. Through her radiation therapy, the mass remained stubbornly large, which was also not a good sign. Still, we remained hopeful.
In January 2025, we were so hopeful that we booked flights to France and reserved an Airbnb in Nice for thirty days. When she had her 90-day scan on February 6th, we never thought there would be a problem. But on the following Sunday morning, the surgical oncologist called to inform us that the scan showed two spots in the left lower lobe of her lung.
Then, time stopped as we digested what we had just been told. A PET scan and a biopsy confirmed that those spots were metastasis from her leg. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of doctor visits. First, we met with the original surgical oncologist, who referred us to a medical oncologist and a thoracic surgeon specializing in sarcomas.
For your information, sarcomas are so rare that it is necessary to work with a team of doctors who specialize in them.
