Post 2: Cross Section

So, this is what we’re talking about.

There's a cross-section of my chest and a head-on scan with the white-ish looking mass that is affectionately referred to as… ‘my lump’.

At its largest, the lump grew to being “as big as an orange”; and no, that’s not me guessing or over-exaggerating, that’s the official documented size according to my surgeon after looking at a bunch of imaging scans.

Essentially, cup both of your hands together and you’re not too far off. Part of it is in/on/above my right peck muscle but under the skin and the rest is beneath the muscle and pushing inwards towards my ribs.

Medically, what I have is known as a ‘Pleomorphic Liposarcoma’, which sounds complicated, but I can explain by breaking the name down and working backwards:

* Sarcoma is the general term for a broad group of cancers that begin in the bones and in the soft tissues (commonly known as ‘soft tissue sarcoma’).

* Normally, ‘lipo’ means fat (as in liposuction), but in this case, a liposarcoma is a rare type of cancer that develops in the fatty tissue anywhere in the body.

* The ‘pleomorphic’ element to the name implies that this type of tumour has tendencies to spread to other areas of the body, namely the lungs, brain and other delicate areas.

Sounds fun, right? No, not overly. My Trip Advisor comment for it would be:

"0 out of 10 - would not recommend."

(And yes, I had permission to take photos of the scans)

#pleomorphicliposarcoma #cancer #sarcoma #tumour #pleomorphic