An Intorduction

Back in November I noticed a lump on my left bicep and finally went to the doctor in December. He thought it was a torn bicep and told me to have an ultrasound. At the ultrasound the tech said it was not a tumor because it had no blood in it. I felt very relieved and went back to the doctor. He said I should go to the orthopedic surgeon Dr. LaSalle.

Dr. LaSalle said it looked to him like a torn bicep and that there was little he could do for me unless I wanted to go through some very long and painful rehab. He asked if it hurt and if I was able to function with it the way it was. I said I had no pain to speak of and that I was able to get along with it just the way it was. He then said we didn’t have to do anything unless the lump got larger.

In March we went on a cruise and it was the first time I had a chance to really look at the bicep for some time. In working out I had noticed that it look larger, but I also felt it was just that I was building my bicep. After the cruise I decided it was best if I went back to see Dr. La Salle. Because it was not an emergency and I was not worried, it took three more weeks before he saw me. When we finally had an appointment in May he said I better have an MRI. After the MRI he looked very concerned and said I needed to go to a specialist down in Indy. He was able to get me an appointment the very next day.

I met with a Dr. Cummings and his staff and they laid it out pretty fast and direct. It looks like you might have a Sarcoma. He then said he recommended that I have a biopsy right there in his office. I decided that was a good idea. At this point I was so scared and felt like I might be dying right now. The biopsy was somewhat painful but I was so deep in prayer I didn’t feel much. He said to go home and that they would have the results in a few days, probably the following Monday or Tuesday.

The next day was Friday and I received a call from a Dr. Rushing’s office saying that they could see me today at 1:30 if I could get there by then. I called Sharon who was at the Essen House and told her we had a 1:30 appointment. About twenty minutes later they called back and said they needed to see me at 11:30. It was 9am at that time and it is a two hour drive minimum to get to Indy. Sharon was still in Antwerp and had to get home to pick me up. We left Fort Wayne at 9:40 and arrived at the Dr’s office at 11:32.

Dr. Rushing is a very busy man and we expected to see him for about ten minutes and then have to reschedule another appointment. That was not all the case. He got into see us about 12:30.

He is a very Irish 60 something, soft spoken, Sarcoma specialist. He was very pleasant and first wants me to explain how I got to see him. After that he gave me an exam and then started to tell me what I had. He explained all about the different kinds of cancers and how the treatments differed. He also explained about a sarcoma and how rare it was. He also gave me the treatment options and what my chances of survival were.

After all the different options we decided on chemo as the best option to start. I will receive four treatments of chemo starting buy June 1st. I will have one treatment each day for five days. I will then recover for two weeks and then another five days of treatment. This will go on for four full treatments. At the end I will wait a month and then have surgery the first week in September. If all goes well this should remove the sarcoma from m body. I will have at least a 65% chance of living for 12 years. It can increase to 80% depending on the outcome of surgery and if it reoccurs.

He said that sarcoma’s often do reoccurs but usually in the same area. I will need to be checked quarterly for the next three years and then each year for ten years.