John's appointment today was with an oncologist (not the surgeon). He explained that the next proceedure they want to do is a PET scan to see if the swollen lymph nodes next to his liver contain cancer. That scan will probably be on Thursday, a week from tomorrow.
Here are the two possible courses of action based upon the PET scan result:
If the scan is positive for cancer, then that means that cancer cells have likely spread all through his body. He would then need to go through chemo treatment as well as have his right kidney removed. The incision for the kidney removal is small.
OR
If the PET scan is not positive for cancer, then they will remove one of the swollen lymph nodes for biopsy at the same time they remove his right kidney. The location of the swollen lymph nodes is deep in his body, thus will require a very large chevron-shaped incision to remove.
So, we are now waiting to hear from the Imaging Department to schedule the PET scan.
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