What the hell is going on...?

About a month ago, I was diagnosed with a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor with Focal Rhabdomyoblastic Differentiation. The preferred couch name is a Triton Tumor. It's an odd one with components from two types of cancer but acts and is treated like the MPNST. The family of tumor this falls into is Sarcoma, or cancer of the soft tissue.

Here is a rough timeline of events so far...

Early March: Visit a hand specialist in Raleigh to try to figure out what this weird bulge in my arm is doing there. Just noticed the bulge and figured it's nothing to worry about.

Mid March: Get an MRI on my arm thinking it is most likely some injury from sports and/or aggressive partying. Get a call from radiologist that day. He's a concerned of it being a tumor.

Late March: After radiologist not very excited with what he saw. I'm referred to the oncoloy clinic at Duke University Medical Center to meet with their chief surgeon. The chief surgeon and their radiologist review me and my MRI and tell me to relax. They're 90% sure it's benign. Surgery was scheduled for late April.

Late April: After a relaxing trip to Jamaica, I shaved off my moustache and went back to Duke to have the tumor removed. After the surgery, I learned that it went well and the tumor wasn't growing out of the main nerve that controls my hand. Pathology should be complete in 10 days.

Early May: My doctor calls me to let me know the pathologist isn't liking what she's seeing. It's taking longer to ID the tumor than expected, but most likely, she's going to call it malignant.

Mid May: Go back to have the stitches removed. No new news yet. Discuss probability of Sarcoma and Lymphoma. Doctors schedule me for Bone Scan and Chest CT Scan. Churchill's here I come...

5/15/06 Get call on final pathology. Triton Tumor.

5/17/06 Have scans done as described earlier.

5/18/06 Results in. No evidence of cancer having spread to lungs and bone at this time.

At this point it looks like I'm going to undergo radiation therapy, additional surgery, and potentially chemotherapy. After a second opinion at Sloan Kettering in New York yesterday, I'm almost positive this will be the plan of attack.

I'll keep everyone posted with second opinion details, treatment details, and updates on how everything is going. Thanks for your support.