I figured this would be an easier way to keep everyone up to date on the progress of my treatment...I will start at the beginning which seems FOREVER ago already but was only 12 days ago!
Back about 6 weeks ago I went to the doctor's office after a weekend of complete nausea and upper abdominal pain. I was convinced I had an ulcer. The NP started me on Zantac in addition to the Protonics I was already on. She stated that now that I was on 2 reflux medicines, I needed to have an upper endoscopy to figure out why the reflux was getting worse.
Endoscopy came on January 29th. I was nervous, but only because I had never had this test before. When the doctor came in to the room he made me feel like this test was unnecessary. He stated it could have been because I had tried weaning off the Protonics back in August, or because I was taking a lot of Ibuprofen. Thankfully I had a friend, Lindsey, in the procedure room with me. She really kept me calm! I came out of my propofol sleep crying. Mike assumed it was just a reaction to the medicine, but I swear now it was because I remembered hearing Lindsey crying during the test...
Dr. Walden came in to my recovery room and didn't beat around the bush. Obviously I don't remember every detail after the word MASS...but I did remember him saying my stomach looked good and I needed to go have a CT that day. Wow. Not at ALL what I expected! They transferred me down to the outpatient CT and I called my mom. That's not an easy call to make. "Hey Mom...I have a mass and it may be cancer."
CT was easy and uneventful, which was good...I couldn't take much more that day! Dr. Walden hoped to have some answers by that evening and said he would call me. So I waited....and waited...tried to go to work but just couldn't stick it out...and waited.
Finally Monday I got call a call from Dr. Walden. The CT showed the mass, a few enlarged lymph nodes near the mass, but everything else looked ok. The PET scan would be definitive and the Endoscopic Ultrasound would help with staging, but we had to also wait for pathology to get the cell type. That call came on Tuesday as I was taking Audrey to dance. I hadn't told the kids anything, and wasn't going to until I had a plan of action from the oncologist. Adenocarcinoma. Ok. I can deal with that. It's the most common of a relatively uncommon cancer in the United States, which mean these docs have treated others before me and hopefully know their stuff.
Oncologist appointment was the kicker for me. I knew my attitude was going to be reflective of what she had to tell me, or us I should say! Jamie Pfau and my mom came with Michael and I to the appointment. The two of them took notes, since I knew I would not remember a word of what she was saying beyond "this is going to be a tough road but I don't see why this won't be cured".
Boom. That's what I needed to hear!
First step included having the ultrasound of the mass and biopsies of the enlarged lymph nodes nearby. I was obviously more nervous for this procedure, but Miss Lizzie did a great job before and after just by making me laugh and being positive.
Next was PET scan and meeting with the radiation doctor. I only cried a tiny bit, because I knew what this test was for. I kept imagining peeking in the control room and being able to see EVERYTHING because I was lighting up like a Christmas tree. That would have been horrible! After the PET scan Jamie, Mike, and I went to lunch and back to the hospital for my radiation meeting. Mom met us for that as well. Jamie whipped out her trusty notebook (LOL) and took notes again. He informed us that the scan showed exactly what we already knew! One mass and a few regional lymph nodes! Yes! He instructed me to come back three days later to have my radiation "planned". That where they mark me (new tattoo!) and kind of do a practice treatment I think. Deal.
Today was my power port placement. You'd think I'd be getting used to these NPO days already, but I'm not. I was more nervous about this since I knew absolutely squat about ports. I knew it went under the skin and was accessed for treatments but that was about it. It went smoothly and I am just sore. Thursday I go for the planning session and then treatments start on Monday!
Mondays will be chemo days. I will have 5 baby chemo doses just to sensitize the tumor to the radiation. Radiation will be every day Monday through Friday for 28 days. Surgery will be about 6 weeks after my last radiation because it will continue to work on shrinking the tumor. That's the scariest part. It sounds horrible and the recovery even worse! I just have to keep remembering this is all going to cure my disease and make me well!
Hallelujah!
At first I was embarrassed that she did this, but then it started to make sense...
My best friend Jamie and my mom have set up a meal planner for the weeks of treatment. You guys are amazing. The site is TakeThemAMeal.com with my last name as the user and 0409 as the password. Plan on staying to chat for a few minutes if you come by!
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