Wednesday, July 18, 2012

MEDICAL UPDATE

Many things were accomplished this Monday on the cancer battle front.



1. Saw the surgeon who drained excess fluid from me. It's sort of gruesomely fascinating to watch. He attaches me to a huge Dr Frankenstein-style vacuum beaker which quickly voids the fluid from the surgery site. I'm thankful, because all that fluid weight was giving me what's know medically as "Dolly-Parton-Back-Pain." He brought us up-to-date on the pathology report and okayed the oncology process to begin.

2. Made arrangements with the oncology department to begin chemo-therapy on the 31st--that means I can enjoy my granddaughter's birthday party on the 30th. The doctor wants to go with an aggressive treatment which should be finished by the end of September. I prefer to get-er-done myself.

3. On Monday the 23rd I'll have a quick-disconnect "porta-cathater" surgically implanted in my chest to facilitate the chemo.

4. On Tuesday the 24th I'll see the Oncologist again.

5. On Wednesday the 25th Karen and I have to go to Kaiser Panarama City for a radiation consultation. Boy, they're really jumping on with both feet.

6. SOMEWHERE in all this I am supposed to have a MUAH--or something like that--heart test to see if I can handle the aggressive chemo or not. This has NOT YET been scheduled.

7. I'm on the beach in Mexico this week with NO phone contact until Monday... Guess we'll find out next week.

The drive down was tiring, I slept well last night. I feel pretty good this morning and I intend to sit in the sun and enjoy the waves, pelicans and dolphins for the rest of the week. Last night we even saw wale spouts on the horizon. I've NEVER seen that before. I am relaxed and thankful for this interlude.

3 comments:

Stephanie P. said...

SOOOOO glad you're getting a relaxing break before the madness begins and really grateful you have Mom and Josh and Jenn and June for physical support. You have ours from 1,100 miles away. We love you Dad and continue to pray for you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update Don! Rest well!
Blessings,
Iris

Eric said...

Thanks for the update and glad you're able to relax.