So the surgeon called Sunday morning to give me the results from the pathology report from Tuesday's surgery. Once again, totally impressed with the sense of urgency provided by the surgeon. My surgeon is totally void of emotions so I never no how to read him (might be a good trait for a doctor since we all seem to hang on every word they say). Level 1 & II lymph nodes had 4 out of 21 that had cancer. Level III had 1 out of 9. He said this was consistent with the PET scan and what he had expected. There is probably lots more that can be pulled once I get the full report. So I'm thinking cancer is cancer and since I had some floating around in me for 14 years, this doesn't mean squat (glass is half empty). On the other hand, looks like they got what they could see and it doesn't appear to be "all over" (glass is half full). So my approach is to suck it up and heal this mess from the dissection (getting the drain tube out will be cause for celebration), meet with the oncologist in a week and get on with some adjuvant treatment, and just maybe, forget about cancer for at least a couple of minutes.
Regarding the adjuvant treatment, am I correct in assuming NIVO + ipi for adjuvant treatment is not standard or only in trial as first line for stage III? I'm trying to get up to speed on treatment options in preparation for my upcoming oncology visit. Also reconcile some possible insurance issues.
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