The Cooties Are Contained

I guess I should put this first: I did not light up like a Christmas tree in my scans. Dr. Fields told us today that according to my scans, my cancer has not yet spread to my liver, lungs, or brain! So that’s good news! The scans did not show anything on my lymph nodes either, but that’s not to say that it is not there because it would be super small – but that’s what the radiation is for, getting rid of the microscopic cooties. It is pretty “routine” (whatever routine means) to have some lymph nodes removed as a precaution, but I am going to see what Dr. Pou says about that tomorrow.

I met with the radiation oncologist this morning - bright and early. We got the rundown on radiation, the good, bad, and the ugly. The cancer center is pretty nice and everyone there was super friendly – which I’m sure is a prerequisite to work in a cancer center – I mean, most of these people are having bad enough days as it is - all you need is a grumpy receptionist to push you over the top. We met and talked with Dr. Fields for a while, he will be my radiology oncologist and once radiotherapy starts, I will meet with him once a week. Oh, radiation will last 6 ½ to 7 weeks and it will start 4-6 weeks after my surgery. He was very to the point and down to business – which seems to be theme with my doctors. He examined me poked around in my mouth, and stuck the scope down my nose without any numbing stuff but it actually didn’t hurt – and this time I got to see! Yeah buddy, bet you can’t say that you’ve seen down your nose!!! They had a TV set up to record the “show” and take some pictures. As Dr. Fields was putting the pictures in my folder, I made him show them to me and I got to see my voice box and my esophagus and down my throat – it was pretty neat! Warner just watched the light in my mouth the whole time!

Dr. Fields brought in another radiation oncologist in case he would ever need to fill in for him and I really did not like this guy. Dr. Fields was very gentle and reassuring and did not cause me any pain even when examining my mouth. This guy, when he was examining my mouth was very rough and pushed very hard (I almost threw up on him when he stuck his finger too far back in my mouth) I gave him several dirty looks and he kept apologizing the whole time he was examining me – seriously, don’t apologize, just don’t hurt me, obviously you aren’t sorry! I just did not like him - and I am still hurting tonight from his little exam. My favorite part of all my exams so far is when they are checking your lymph nodes in your neck because you get a pretty nice neck massage!

I will hopefully find out when the surgery will be at my appointment with Dr. Pou, tomorrow at 10. We will go over the treatment options and then I’ll have some decisions to make. I also have a dentist appointment at Mary Bird Perkins at 8:30 with Dr. Ory to make sure all my teeth are healthy before starting the radiation because the radiation will be very hard on my teeth because I will lose most of the saliva in my mouth – and I will probably permanently have a dry mouth. I will have to fluoride treatments every day for the rest of my life once I start radiation. I have to meet with a medical oncologist at some point just to discuss chemo options in case it is ever necessary and just to make a connection there.

I met with the dietician this morning as well. She was really nice. I got some free samples of Boost Plus and some other brands to try before my surgery so I know which ones I like because during radiation they will be the bulk of what I am eating. I am not allowed to lose more than 10 pounds once I start radiation – this does not count any weight that I might lose during the surgery and recovery. If I lose more than 10 pounds I will have a feeding tube in my stomach – and they will have to put that in with me kicking and screaming, so I will not be losing any weight once I start radiation (no promises after the surgery though)! I will also be eating around 2600 calories a day during my radiation therapy and right now I’m supposed to be eating 2100-2400 calories and a ton of protein to bulk up for the World’s Strongest Man Competition surgery! This will be the only time in my life I will be excited about gaining weight!

I am working on training Julie at work – which has been interesting. I’m teaching her how to do things that I barely know how to do myself! Not to mention I am taking my pain pills around the clock because it keeps me from getting the hung over feeling and it keeps me from hurting as much. So, imagine me, on pain pills, trying to teach someone how to do my job that I barely know how to do. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun! No, it really is going well.

Edgar is adapting well. He is Ruekie’s little shadow and he whines if Ruekie is not around. He is still sleeping all night, and he slept from 11-5 last night! Sorry this update was so long! Hope you all feel informed now! Tomorrow’s entry will probably be another long one as well! Can you believe it's been over a week since we found out? CRAZY!