Finally!  I have a report from the cardio doctor.

Basically:

• There is occasionally slowing down of the heart (bradycardia).  This could be treated with a pacemaker.  They say I don’t need to have a pacemaker until the condition makes me uncomfortable.  I knew all of that already.
• There is an irregular beat in one portion of my heart.  It beats slightly ahead of the rest of my heart.  No treatment suggested.
• There is little or no sign of atrial fibrillation (AFIB) which was the major problem in 2012.
• A very important finding.  There is no sign of Carcinoid  Heart Disease, which is a problem of heart valves that occurs in patients with metastasis to the liver.  I am checked for this every year.
• No change in treatment is recommended.

So, it’s all good I guess.

On to the next thing…

At my age you cannot walk past a doctor’s office or hospital without some new diagnosis.  It’s a drag sometimes.

As you know, I have a CT Scan every 3 to 6 months to keep watch on the carcinoid.  My latest scan was March 19.  I just received the news that there is no change in the liver tumors which is good.

But, (I hate “but”, don’t you?) they have seen a lesion on my urinary bladder.  A lesion is any abnormality or damage in the tissue.  Medicos use the term lesion for tumor as well.  I am now scheduled to see a urologist for a cystoscopy (they look inside through a long tube which I know from experience is not very fun).   Yippee! Yet another doctor in my contact list.

While we do not know that this is anything serious, I felt that I should at least inform myself a little.  Searching the web, I find that

• Carcinoid of the urinary bladder is extremely rare. If this case is carcinoid then it could be my unknown primary or it might be a metastasis (very, very rare).
• Most lesions on the urinary bladder are malignant.
• Many lesions of the urinary bladder are fairly easily removed and maybe cured by cystoscopy.

So what?  We don’t know at this time how any of this relates to me and my own, personal bladder, liver, and carcinoid tumors.  We are each different.  I am going to choose not to worry until there is more concrete data to discuss.

I presented the above material more as educational about carcinoid.

May we all have the best possible outcomes,

Cy

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