Oncologist Day

Ok so, today was Oncologist Day. The good news: Wound-Vac is OUT. She was very happy with the progress of my incision and although she was a little on the fence about maybe leaving it in for another week, ultimately she decided to take it out. I still have a hole in my belly which is SUPER disconcerting, but now it’s packed with gauze and covered with 4x4 gauze packs and tape. I see her again week after

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next to check its progress.

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Now… as for treatment. :deep breath:

I have to stop and say that I LOVE my oncologist. And all of her staff. They are honest, forthright, empathetic, and don’t treat me like an idiot. She recognizes that I do have SOME knowledge about what’s happening and speaks to me with respect and dignity that I’ve had a hard time finding at other physicians.

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We talked for a long time, her, her nurse, my mom and grandmother and I. We talked about the trial, and treatment options outside the trial. Ultimately the decision was really mine. I would love (really) to be part of the study. I would. But there is no guarantee I would end up in the group that gets both Chemo AND Radiation. And to be honest, after talking to all the Doctors and my family and doing my own research, I just feel like if I don’t do BOTH now, I may regret it later. At least this way, if the Cancer DOES come back… I can say I really did try everything right off the bat.

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So here’s the plan:

I will have an appointment at the radiation office next week to do all the pre-screenings (CT etc). I’ll get a call to schedule a day surgery to put in a port at my clavicle for the chemo. It makes it easier than having to find a vein every time. Once the Port is in, we’ll start the whole treatment process on the next Monday (probably week after next or the week after).

Then the schedule goes as follows:

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Day 1: Chemo and Radiation (5-6 hour day up at the Cancer center)

Day 2-5: Radiation (about an hour a day).

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Lather, rinse, repeat 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Then, 1 round of chemo a week for 3 weeks.

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Presumably at that point, I get the all clear.

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Confirmed side effects:

-Exhaustion

-Likely Nausea (I’ll get meds to mitigate that)

-Likely Diarrhea. The nurse said one of the “benefits” of doing both treatments simultaneously… the Radiation causes diarrhea, the chemo causes constipation… she said a lot of patients luck out and the two cancel each other out so you don’t have to worry about it at all

-Hair Loss. It’s going to happen. Now, Sunday I’m buzzing my hair already so that shouldn’t be as traumatic as it could be. But as a bonus, she did say ALL of my hair would come out… leg hair, pubes, everything. I’m going to call this a win for personal grooming although most people consider it a lose on side effects.

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All in all it could be so so much worse. I’m not thrilled about the port, but I am if it makes it easier to do the treatment. In all honestly, I just… I want it to be over. The sooner we can start, the sooner I can be done.

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In the meantime, I still need help… if you haven’t and you CAN (and I don’t expect any of you to be able to or to feel obligated to) please consider donating to my Cancer Fund. It may be a few weeks before my insurance comes through and there are bills to pay in the meantime. So far I’m almost covered for next month thanks to people’s generosity… but every little bit helps.

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Once I have a chance, I’ll do another photo post of my progress Belly-wise. I can’t even describe how much that helped me… to say nothing of everyone’s positivity and support thereafter.

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Sorry to put so much of the “Cancer Crap” here… but I know a lot of you want ot know but aren’t following my actual Cancer Blog so I wanted to be sure the folks that wanted to know saw the latest.

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Love to you all, and remember to LOVE YOURSELVES.