So now my PCP has passed me onto an Oncologist, great fun!

He's reviewed the x-ray, CT scan and MRI and now we meet with him to determine what's going on but he has no answers. He's hoping for "lymphoma" which now we know it's not and then some type of sarcoma or several other diagnosis that require fluency in Latin.

The next course of action is another full body CT scan, with and without contrast so that they could determine if there are any other tumors else where in my body. He had already examined me in great detail, including a brief juggling of Larry and Moe, and was satisfied on first glance I had no other lymph issues.

The actual CT scan was relatively painless other than drinking the horrible contrast fluid and trying to lay still while your back screamed at you in pain. I shed tears for the first time since we've begun this journey, not at my mortality but at the thought of not watching my kids graduate, marry, have kids of their own, etc. There's just something about lying in a sterile metal tube with the rhythmic clicking of machinery in the background that drives you into your own deepest fears.

The follow up CT scan confirms no other tumors elsewhere so it's on to biopsy!

He seems to be a great doctor (I admire him a lot) but thinks we should do a biopsy of the tumors and also inject "cement" in my L4 to stabilize it. I expressed concern over the procedure, like a big chicken, and he asked if I had any better ideas to which I for once was speechless. Yep, I like this guy a lot! We go with his plan instead of mine.