As we were driving to the appointment, about 10 minutes from
Mark’s house, I was just a bit nervous for just a minute or so, but then it
left, and I felt calm. This spot had a
red line around it this morning, so it was quite angry with me – I wasn’t real
happy with it myself! 😀
This spot is to the right of my flap - right up against it. My ear (unseen) is around on the left side.
It is to the point now that it is hard to get
in a position to sleep without impinging on it.
When I got up this morning, it was kind of aching. It is no longer flat, but is a lump now.
When Dr. Powers came into the room, he looked at it and
said, “We can do one of two plans.” The
first plan is to do radiation. We would
continue the chemo, but at a much reduced dosage, in order to reduce the
toxicity of the radiation. He said they
could radiate it at an angle which would protect the brain cells. I told him that would be good, because at my
age, I didn’t have any brain cells to spare.
He said that was a valid concern, but they had ways to do that to
minimize that issue. He said the
radiation usually last 6-8 weeks – Mon-Fri.
The 2nd option was to add another chemo agent –
Avastin. He said this was a commonly
used agent that targets blood vessels and vascular problems. I asked what his gut feeling was about the
two, and he thought either one would work.
He first wanted Dr. Massey to see me if she was available. She’s the head of the radiology
department. He left the room and came
back with her shortly. She looked the
whole situation over and said she thought we could get good results in 2 weeks,
and she said she was not worried about the toxicity. I was encouraged after hearing her. She seemed really upbeat and confident about
it. He said he thought this was a good
way to go. I asked how soon they could
get this going, because this thing was growing fast. Dr. Massey said she would get on the phone
immediately.
I told Dr. Powers when I first found out the diagnosis, I
didn’t read extensively on it. A part of
me wanted to ask him about my real future, but a part of me didn’t really want
to know if there was not a cure, because I didn’t want to lose my hope. He said he felt we had “a lot to be positive
about.” He said he hadn’t near used all
the medications that were available. Guy
asked if this was a long drawn out thing, and he said, “Yes.” So, it’s not going to be over with just a few
months of chemo. It’s like Guy said, “We’ve
got the chemo and the radiation – and prayer will have to take care of the
rest.”
Dr. Powers was very happy with the way the rest of my head
looked, the other places have virtually disappeared. The top area has not disappeared, but he was
pleased with how it was healing and had not gone backwards. This current spot was not a NEW place, but a
flare up of one of the original sites.
He didn’t feel like the two weeks off of chemo in March had anything to
do with it, and it was not due to the reduced dosage because it showed up
before that. I told him that with this
reduced dosage, I was feeling better – had more energy. So hopefully that will continue over the next
few weeks. Dr. Massey said the side
effects of radiation would be some reddened skin and fatigue – I might feel a
little lazy in the evenings. No nausea,
vomiting, etc. That’s a good thing!
I’m OK with the plan.
I kind of figured this would be the recommendation because of the email
Dr. Powers had sent me. As long as there
is a plan they are comfortable with, and they feel it will work, I’m up for
it. Just anxious to get it started
before this thing gets any bigger or deeper.
I’m now just waiting for them to call me.
Again, I want to thank all of you who rallied around me with
your prayers. There is just no way to
express my gratefulness. Prayer is SO
very much a part of my whole healing process.
God richly bless all of you!!!!!!
And as always……I’m in His hands…..
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