People have told me that the stage I am in now-being newly diagnosed with cancer and not yet knowing what comes next, can be the hardest time. I am beginning to see the truth to this as with each new piece of information we gather about what lies ahead, we feel a bit more assurance that everything will be OK. It will.
I was fortunate to be able to get an appointment today at Dana Farber with an oncologist and radiation oncologist both of whom specialize in GI cancer. We met with them at the same time which made everything much easier. The oncologist began by detailing the stage of my cancer as IIIB because I have one (just one!) lymph node at the site of the tumor that is likely “involved,” meaning it is about 2mm bigger than they might expect it to be. However, the “involvement” of this little node cannot technically be determined without a biopsy which will not happen until the time of surgery. The hope is that by the time the lymph node is removed, the chemo and radiation treatment will have eradicated any cancer cells from this questionable lymph node.
The treatment course the oncologist and radiation oncologist outlined both for before and after surgery was practically identical to what we learned from my surgeon as well as the oncologist we met with in Concord last week. One of the main reasons for our visit to Dana Farber was to determine whether getting treatment there would make a difference in terms of the likely outcome and thus whether it would be worth living temporarily and/or commuting daily to Boston. It was reassuring to hear these incredibly talented, wise and kind specialists agree that the chemo and radiation I will receive in Concord, NH--close to home, will be nearly identical to the treatment I would receive under their care at Dana Farber.
In other news, our beloved guinea pig, Moe,
died quite suddenly and unexpectedly last
night. He was a sweet little guy who was
adored by Flo and Bea and perhaps a few
others. Flo and Bea seem to be handling
his death better than I would have
expected. They asked if they could have
a “sleepover” together in Flo’s bed and
when Robbie went in to kiss them
goodnight they were under the covers
laughing and telling stories about Moe.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hugs for guinea pigs and anxiety. I'm glad you can feel more confident with the course ahead. xo SarahDH
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that Moe has gone over the rainbow bridge. i definitely remember your very cute hedgie you guys had in DC -- was it Quinn? Or Quill? We have LOTs of big fat hedgies around here...I'll try to send Flo and Bea a photo. :) Sending you and the girls great big fat hugs and lots and lots and LOTS of well-wishes.
ReplyDeleteYou must be doing tons and tons of reading already, but in case its of interest, a friend of mine from DC recently went through successful treatment for rectal cancer at age 38 at Georgetown, and wrote this patient story for the Georgetown Ruesch Center newsletter about her experience as a mom of young kids going through treatment. https://m.box.com/shared_item/https%3A%2F%2Fgeorgetown.box.com%2Fs%2F5p7s5qug53547p7frudre0ojspejfzey
XO,
Kristine & James
(thanks for the fun valentine's day card!!)<3