September 9th, 1:58pm. I have back to back meetings all afternoon and Mel is working from home doing some online training. There is a conference the first week of October that I was in the process of booking and just about to finalize payment for flights and the conference.I received a phone call that I was not expecting. Normally when you get a phone call from a doctor after a biopsy it is not a good thing. If there is no news then it is generally good as there is no urgency to the report. After the phone call I informed my team I am leaving for the day.
In less than a week our plans for next year changed. The plan was to travel to Paris in 2026 for a celebration of 5 years cancer free. Things were progressing well and after 4 years of quarterly scans we were starting the plans for our trip. Mel loves planning and spends hours tracking travel blogs and influencers on what to see and what to do. I am quite lucky with the medical team that I have and all of the people looking out for me. I am fortunate that I know my family doctor personally and that he cares deeply about my health. Months ago, around February i started losing weight. Then I noticed a lump near my belly button. When I told the doctors he was not too concerned and said we should monitor it and get my stomach scoped. During the summer I did and the results were negative. After a couple of ultrasounds and CT scans that showed nothing, my oncologist thought we should get a biopsy. I went to another ultrasound and the doctor did not see anything that could be biopsied. My oncologist was on vacation so another doctor reviewed it and thought it was just an infection. My doctor returned and saw me. Upon reviewing it he was not comfortable with the unknown and suggested I make an appointment with my surgeon. I did this and then during the session he decided to do a biopsy, even though an ultrasound 2 days earlier indicated that there was nothing there.2:05. I asked my doctor if I should tell Mel now or wait. He is unsure. I decided to tell Mel. At this point I am nervous about this and how she will react to it. She is in training, but I feel she needs to know. It went smoother than I expected. Not like the first time I told her. This is not news that people want to hear but it is not unexpected. Her biggest fear has become reality. The cancer has returned.