Mini Me - Check up

Before I tell you my wee story I just want to let you know that I'm fine - Mini Me is still there but is no bigger :-).

Now, when I was first diagnosed with Mini Me my Doc told me that, due to the amount of blood vessels going to her, she had the capacity to change.....in my mind that meant that the nature of the tumour could change aka the cells could become cancerous at some point in the future. So every time I go for a check up I find them incredibly stressful - I keep waiting for them to say that she has become cancerous!! Chris and I talked about it and we decided that we would discuss with my Doctor the possibility of just having her taken out. I am so so so glad we made that decision.....after my check up we got to meet with the specialist liver surgeon of the hospital (I know....how amazing is that!!) who told me that I could have her out if I really really wanted to but that the type of tumour she is means that she will probably not grow significantly in the next 20 years and that there is no way she will ever turn cancerous!!! When the other Doc said capacity to change what he meant was capacity to get bigger......ah the subtleties of language!!

Nervous

I'm actually going into hospital tomorrow and I'm feeling a wee bit nervous today!!

I've had a check up on Mini Me (My tumour) - the good news is it hasn't grown but the bad news is that it hasn't shrunk either!! It's been nine months since the last big check up on it and, although they still think it's benign, they want to do a biopsy on it. This will involve a local anaesthetic and a big bloody needle......yikes!! I will not be allowed to move for four hours afterwards (This prompted Chris to utter 'Does that mean you won't be able to move your lips either?' in a very hopeful manner......he actually looked quite devastated when I replied 'No it doesn't!!') and will have to stay overnight so that they can observe my clotting abilities!!

The biopsy will establish whether A. the tumour will just stay the way it is for the rest of my life and will cause me no pain or anything (funnily enough this is the option I'm rooting for!!) or B. It has the capacity to change and develop into something more nasty a few years down the line. If it's B then I'll be going back into hospital to have it removed. Looking on the bright side at least I won't have to wait an age to find out what's going on - I'll get the results of it on Saturday!!

(Secretly I am just scared that they are going to tell me that I can't have any alcohol for another two months.....if they do that.....I may cry!!!)

The MRI Scan

Chris had three meetings that he just couldn’t get out of (probably because he had had to take so much time off work last week) so my lovely friend Jenny agreed to take his place and do the hand holding. (Thank you Jen - you deserve a medal).

We arrived at the hospital at 8am and I was told to go and get changed. I have to say that both Jen and Moon did me proud – neither laughed when I emerged from the changing room in the most hideous green pyjama things you have ever seen (They were the same colour as the Tupperware that Moon had wanted to buy – I rest my case!!). Anyway, they took more blood and then I was shown into the MRI room, asked to lie down and was strapped to this table thing which then entered into the actual scanner (Beam me up Scotty!!). I then spent an hour being told ‘breath in, breath out, hold your breath’ (Not the most exciting experience) whilst the machine made various beeping, crunching and whirring noises. (At one point the table thing I was strapped to started vibrating and all I could think was ‘At least this will be good for my cellulite!!’). They then injected me with this stuff (I assume it was so they could get clear pictures - That's me in the picture to the right!!) which I could actually feel going round my system – and then it was all over. That was a doddle (Good Scottish word for easy) - Not pleasant but not even close to how bad I thought it was going to be!! (I have an over-active imagination what can I say…..)

My appointment with the Specialist to discuss the results was not till 12 so we had a few hours to kill before I saw him. We sat in Starbucks drinking tea and eating cake (naughty but nice). It turned out that he was running very late and my appointment was moved to 2pm (I would rather he be late and take his time with someone else than rush them) so we went and grabbed some lunch. Jen also had an appointment at 2 which was handy because it meant that she didn’t have to hang about waiting for me – Moon wasn’t so lucky!! (Jen is a great friend – she actually came back and was there when I finished speaking to the Doc.…she should have made a bid for freedom while she had the chance!!).

I got to have a good long chat with my Doctor during which time he showed me scans, x-rays and explained exactly what was going on and what had caused it. I have a 3.5cm tumour in my liver (Don’t worry it’s not cancerous - You can see it quite clearly on the left hand side of my liver in the scan - Chris has christened it Mini Me). It has been caused by taking the birth control pill for so many years - apparently the Gall stone and the tumour are classic side effects (can you believe it!!). I’ve had Mini Me for about two years and I have been told that it won’t cause me any pain or discomfort at all but that they want to see it reduce in size. I have to stop taking the birth control pill, take medication to thin my bile (Yes, I know you didn’t really want to know that but hey….at least I’ve not put the DVD of my op on the blog!!), continue to lose weight and (This is the worst bit) not drink any alcohol for two months!! (TWO MONTHS!!! Actually, I have negotiated one day off – I asked if I would be able to have some wine with my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary and he said yes…..I’ll probably have one sip and be away with the fairies). The other specialist explained that the medication they are giving me should help me lose weight, shrink the tumour and, since the gall stone I have is really small, wear away the stone so that hopefully it will just disappear. I've to go back to have another MRI scan in three months time which, if they have got everything right, should show that the tumour has shrunk and then life will return back to normal with the exception of check ups on it every few years or so.

I did also get good news - the procedure they did to remove the stone was very successful and I can now eat spicy food again. Yipeeeee almost makes up for the no alcohol (I told my friend Louise today that I've not to drink anything for two months....she laughed a lot....I may have to hit her next time I see her).