The Invader

In my last post I shared that one of the outcomes of a recent visit to the ER was that a "mass" had been discovered on my liver thanks to a CT Scan of my abdomen. Actually, the CT report indicates that there are two unidentified "things" on it, but one is significantly larger than the other.

 

Tonight, thanks to a 2-hour MRI session at the hospital, I got my first glimpse of the invader.

 

An MRI image of my liver.  I'm told that the "mass" is the white splotch on the left.

 

I don't know anything more now than I did before the MRI, other than to see this image of it.  Apparently, a doctor will analyze it today and provide his analysis before sending it to my GI doctor to discuss next steps.  I can't imagine that we're just going to do nothing, so I assume the next step will be a biopsy.  I've got my follow-up appointment with the doctor next Thursday so we'll see what he says.

 

The good news is that my frame of mind is good and I'm feeling fine.  If I hadn't ended up in the ER a couple of weekends ago I would never know it was there, so that visit may end up being a blessing in disguise.  Regardless - the fact that it's as large as it is seems to indicate that it has been there a while.  The next thing is to determine what its intentions are.

 

Some that I've shared this with seem to feel that the hormones I've been taking these last 15+ years may play some role in all of the maladies I'm dealing with at the moment.  Perhaps, but I don't know that there's any way to definitively know that.  And regardless - I'm not planning to stop taking them any time soon.  Cut back - maybe - but we'll have that conversation when a doctor who can say with some authority that it would help or not can explain it to me.

 

That's all for now.  Life goes on.  For now.  The weekend is upon us and I'm looking forward to spending a couple of days with some dear friends and getting some much-needed "down" time.  Somehow I'm thinking that this is the calm before the storm, so I better enjoy it while it lasts.

 

Onwards!