Diagnosis (The Demogorgon) July 17 - August 7

On July 17th Torri had a CT scan of her right ear and sinus. July 18th I received a call from the ENT that there was something suspicious on the CT scan and that he'd like to see Torri ASAP - Torri was in California for a long weekend trip (Millerton).

On July 23rd she had a nasopharyngeal (up the nose, down the back of throat) scope the revealed a mass on her right side.

On July 25th she had an MRI of the head and neck. The results revealed a soft tissue mass of the mucosal space of the nasopharynx, masticator space, and carotid space. Mass was difficult to measure due to shape but approx 3 x 4 x 3.5 cm (1 cm=0.4 inches) 1.2 x 1.6 x 1.4 inches.

On July 30th the ENT performed a biopsy of the tumor and also placed a tube in her right ear to drain the fluid and pressure from behind the ear drum.

Now for the painful wait! The ENT stated that it appears to be malignant but that the pathologist could not readily identify the type.

Our local pathology team was unable to identify the malignancy and had to send the tissue samples to a ENT pathologist in Florida...more waiting.

On August 7th the pathology report finalized: Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma, +Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), nonkeratinizing, undifferentiated (AKA: Torri's Demogorgon).

So this type of cancer is:

1- rare in the United States,

2- most common among elderly Asian men in China

3- Torri should not have this!

Multiple referrals were sent out to provide us with treatment options.