Friday, January 15, 2010

The appointment


Today was the day of my appointment with my oncologist, the Birmingham one, to discuss next steps. I had sent him the report from Dresden and the CT scans etc but as expected he had not undergone any conversion on the road to Damascus or even Druids Heath. He repeated that there was no evidence that people with lots of mets who have surgery have any benefits, ie live longer. We questioned his evidence as ever and went round in a few circles.

We discussed the x-ray which showed a few holes in my right lung but no mets (a CT would have found a few)and that the biggest met in the left lung had only grown slightly and was now 1.3cm. He asked about potential for Dresden treatment on left lung and I said that would depend on recovery of right one and whether chemo could shrink or do away with the few left in that lung. He said as I had embarked on this course of treatment then we should work along those lines, which was gratifying.

So we will start chemo wk beg 8 Feb, it will be the combination of the two classic ones for this condition, known to aficionados as Dox/Ifos. He says it works better when you use both so I have to trust him. I will have to go into hospital for two days every three weeks for four months and will feel progressively worse as the time goes by; I can plan treats for the times in between which I am already working on. I will lose my hair, become anaemic and generally be a poor dear thing. Or I may just sail through, lets hope its the latter.

So we are off tomorrow morning first thing in our snow covered camper van; going over to our little house for two weeks of French therapy, anti-oxidants in form of Bergerac and Pechermant; loads of good food and heavenly tranquility. The calm before the chemical storm.

2 comments:

  1. I hope you have a lovely time in France x

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  2. Hi Jean
    Just spent time catching up on your progress. My goodness Jean you are one gutsy lady and such an inspiration to us all. You and Stewart have a relaxing time in France and I will catch up with you both when you are back in the UK. Take care and keep on keeping on. Love Ange x

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