Super Busy Day

I woke up with a little nausea today. Not horrible, but just enough to be an irritant. Chemo was scheduled for 7:00 AM so I needed to move fast to get any kind of walk. I was up at 5:00, took a quick shower, ate breakfast and was out the door at 5:45 for a quick 45 minute walk on the trail. Then back to the apartment for 10 minutes to pack up to leave for today’ chemo appointment.

We made it the appointment with about 30 seconds to spare.. Checked in and was called right back. During set up the nurse explained that the doctor’s orders had been modified because of my numbers. The numbers had risen enough for me to have chemo, but not the full amount. Both chemo drugs were reduced by 10% in quantity. The doctor felt it was a better option than to postpone all the chemo by another week. So, even with the smaller quantities I was still tied up for 5 hours with the chemo treatments.

Our next appointment was the rescheduled visit with Dr. Owen, the Radiation Oncologist. We initially met with her Advance Planning nurse (Tracie) to discuss what was going on, what symptoms was I experiencing, and what I should try. Dr. Owen then joined us but almost immediately had to step back out for a page. Not so bad, except I had been drinking lots of water to prep for my radiation treatment that was to follow this appointment. We were already running 20 minutes late for the radiation treatment. I thought I could hold it a little bit longer, but once I started to think about it..I lost. Since we were waiting for the doctor I step out to find a bathroom to see if I could just let a little bit out. I ran into the doctor and nurse in the hall. and the doctor said I should go to my treatment right now. I asked her if she could show the scans to Jon and let him know what was going on with the tumor and lymph nodes. She was fine with that, so the nurse escorted me to the treatment area and I left the doctor “alone” with Jon.

After Jon shared with me afterwards all his questioning of the doctor, I thought that doctor didn’t know what she let herself into when she agreed to talk alone with him. He can be quite the inquisitor. He said she was fine and actually appreciated his line of questioning. This is a Reader’s Digest version of what he learned.

The two lymph nodes with the small tumors are almost undetectable! The main tumor is still getting smaller and it appears to be shrinking in the optimal direction for surgery, if surgery is needed in the future. All still positive.

I have a CT scan of the chest and abdominal area scheduled for August 19. This is to make sure there are no new occurrences of the cancer anywhere else.

It is the doctor’s belief that surgery will not be decided until after the 4th cycle of chemo, tentatively scheduled for mid September.

There was so much more Jon extracted from the doctor. He felt it was a great conversation. They were just finishing the appointment when I finished my treatment.

We originally planned to finish cycle 3 and cycle 4 of my chemo in Kalamazoo. We decided the best plan is to receive ALL my treatments at the Mayo Clinic. If my health allows we plan to return home to home on August 8 and return to Rochester on August, 18, for tests and an office visit with Dr. Halfdanarson (Medical Oncologist) on the 19th. Cycle 3 of chemo is the schedule for the following Monday(24th), Tuesday (25th) and Wednesday.(26th). We have extended the lease on the apartment until the end of September, just to give us a little flexibility.

I’m getting too sleepy to write more and too worried that I’m writing too much at once. Despite of all my ribbing, I am in awe of Jon’s ability to talk intelligently to the medical professionals and actually understand what is being said. I know this also has a huge impact on my quality of care.

I’m not any good at selfies!