I waste no time getting an
appointment the oncologist. I've spent the week doing research and have learned
a lot and gotten very confused and frustrated a lot too. I am so overwhelmed I
break down in tears trying to sort through it all. I eventually concede and
decide I’m going to stop over thinking this and just take it all day by day. I
will attempt to go with the flow as the information comes to me.
My oncologist is very
thorough. He reviews the pathology reports and discusses it all in great
detail. He tells me the cells in the cancerous polyp are the same cells found
in the lymph nodes, this is a small relief for me knowing the cancer didn't come from another place in my body. He goes on to explain when cancer hits the
lymph nodes it puts me automatically at stage three. I think, stage three …
that is three of four!?! WTF! The doc explains that I’ll need treatment for 3
days every two weeks for the next 6 months. Great, this year is pretty much
shot!
The next thing I need to
do is get a Venus
Access Port
installed in my chest. Dr. N.’s office can do that procedure at the Surgery Center . That way the chemo will get
plugged in and funneled through the port. Apparently all that poking and
prodding during chemo treatment will ruin the veins in my arms.
The good news to come out
of this, if that is even possible, is I won’t lose my hair. The oncologist said
it will ‘thin’ but shouldn't fall out. I question what a man thinks is thinning
hair may not be in line with what a woman thinks is thinning hair? Hmmm. At
least my pal and stylist, Erin, has my back and scalp. I know she’ll help me
through any hair crisis!
I told the oncologist that
I wanted the weekend to think about everything we discussed and I’d get back to
him next week. He assured me that my age and good health would make me a great
candidate to come out on the other side of this treatment cancer free and live
a long life.
Greg and I leave the
office and without saying a word to one another, we both know damn well that I’ll
get the treatment. We reunited three years ago with idea that we will spend the
next 30 - 40 years together, enjoying one another as much as possible! I’m not
about to let him down!
Greg and me circa 1982 |
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