Yesterday I saw the surgeon for a ten day followup and he had the pathology report, which concluded that my mesenteric mass was
sclerosing mesenteritis. That and Carcinoid cancer were the two most likely diagnoses that I had studied for the past few months. A good graphic of the various possible diagnoses can be found here:
Peritoneal Solid MassesHe said the mass was essentially "calcified fat", lobular in appearance and slightly smaller than a baseball, but much larger than expected. It is typically non-lethal but was large enough to cause some disruption. The fact that I had been told that it
could not be biopsied led to the delay in treatment.
I would have had the surgery a month earlier, but my gastroenterologist said that these "usually" turn out to be Carcinoid, which is the antiquated name for "neuro-endocrine tumor" or NET (more specifically GEP-NET). This led me to a crash course on NET's and becoming familiar with yet another cancer that I had previously known nothing about
.
Tomorrow, Saturday Nov 10th is "NET cancer awareness day". I have the bumper decal but not the T-shirt. This is the same type of cancer that killed Steve Jobs and more recently Aretha Franklin. Look it up. No one will ever even HEAR of neuro-endocrine cancer unless you specifically look for it. It is often misdiagnosed as a number of other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
This type of mass is rare but not uncommon. Usually one is found upon autopsy in about
1 in 100 cases, but there are only a few hundred cases of appearance in the living... not because it is deadly, but because they usually don't look for it. It was just my good fortune that my GP suspected pancreatitis and ordered a CT which discovered the mass.
The surgery itself went well. I have three new incisions added to my collection, the largest being 7" long right down the middle. I was unable to eat or take anything by mouth for several days. Saliva and ice chips alone were enough to cause tremendous reflux and discomfort, but the surgeon said the anastomosis was so close to the stomach that anything I took by mouth had nowhere to go. Finally after five days on IV nutrition I quickly transitioned to full liquids and finally some cream of wheat. Still having some discomfort and my bowels are unpredictable, but am eating normally... though in smaller portions.
I see the surgeon next just before Thanksgiving. He told me it may take six months before things return to normal... whatever that is.