More tests...

Well... the big news... no chemo yesterday!

My doctor came into the room about 10 minutes before the chemo was scheduled and said, "I know that you are all prepared to start chemo today, but"...

Let me back up now for a review of the day. First, God sent an angel to help us - Maggie! She is one of the many people dedicated to research at MD Anderson, and I was on her "list". She phoned me a few days ago, to let me know about her role and to give me all the info that I needed about where to be and when - she explained procecures, helped us through bottlenecks and ... perhaps most impressive... validated our parking!

She met Nick and I and led us through the steps.. and believe me, it wasn't an easy schedule. The one thing I regretted most was bringing books to read. We just had to haul them around all day - there was no time to sit and read!!

While I had the "long catheter" inserted at the infusion therapy center, Nick had to go to another building and sit through a class on how to "flush the line". He will have to attend two classes before they will give me the supplies we need for home care - that means that I have to go back to MDA on Saturday (today) to have the dressing cleaned and the line flushed. I can't help but think of all those folks who travel around the world for treatment. You can see why they have to literally move here! I am just thankful that I live about 15 min. from MDA.

Maggie's research follows the side effects and symptoms of the type of chemo that I have been prescribed, so I had to do a series of tests to give them a marker for future reference. One of the most noteable side effects is temporary short term memory loss. (no jokes here from family or friends... we ALL know that I have a hard time remembering everyone's birthdays!)

I had to complete a number of tasks, like repeating long series of numbers (which I suck at)... and remembering long lists of words (which I was pretty good at)... among many other things. At one point, I had to repeat series of numbers (up to 7 or 8 numbers) backwards!! Is there ANYONE who can do that?? Probably Nick!

Maggie helped me tremendously with her very honest explanation of "what to expect from chemo"! The really ironic thing is that I had finally come to terms and was not afraid of the treatment. The regiment that I have been prescribed will not have all the horrible side effects that haunted my thoughts (visions of what my father went through). After the morning with Maggie, I felt prepared.

Then the last thing on my schedule before reporting to the chemotherapy unit, was a review with my doctor! After reviewing my tests from last week, they identified a couple of "spots" on my liver which he feels we should biopsy BEFORE we start the chemo. The issue is that chemo treatments can mask the spots without actually curing cancer. If the spots are cancerous, then they can identify and remove just those small spots. If cancer is confirmed but the specific spots are not visible via ct scans (ie: due to chemo), then they would have to remove a large section of the liver (not a good thing!) The procedure for the biopsy is very simple.. and should be completed next week. Once they have completed the biopsy and have the results back, then I will start chemo probably November 7th.

Just a word about "spots"... it is very possible that these are just small "fat" cells - (maybe left over tequila shots?) the biopsy is just a precaution. If it wasn't for the whole "masking" thing then it would not even be an issue.

I admit that I was very anxious... ok scared silly... but I'm better now and ready for whatever! Lots of good thoughts, prayers and words of encouragement from all of you!!
As always..
Thank you and much love,
Sia