Well That Was Exciting

We met with my oncologist yesterday before the weekly chemo treatment. We left feeling that his general approach to me is, "You have stage 4 kidney cancer. Why waste time trying to do something about it."

I'm due to meet with the cancer center's director, hopefully, sometime this week. There are different theories and philosophies to approaching cancer. Giving up, however, is not an option.

My oncologist believes in using drugs only once cancer has spread beyond its initial location. He doesn't even like to hear about new techniques that are showing successes. For that matter, he doesn't even seem to want to hear about new drugs that could soon become available. For that he wants to send me down to Philadelphia.

Off to Philly I will go in the weeks to come. I told my oncologist that I did want to see the specialist down there a few times every year. But I didn't want to have to do it everytime there were questions that he didn't want to try to find the answers to.

I have learned that I have to have all my reports and anything and everything with me when I do meet with the oncologist. I have to go through all the tests and reports line by line and question him on everything. One "thing" in my kidney he never noticed on the report, just breezed right over it. My questioning led to a call to the radiologist for further explanation.

His opinion is "what does it matter." I'm not too fond of that.

I also discussed my recent tests and reports with my family physician, who I learned a lot more from than my oncologist.

The official scan results as of now are:
1 - there are two tumors in the liver, both are continuing to shrink, one is tiny only 3 mm in size (there used to be three tumors in the liver);
2 - there is one tiny tumor in the upper lobe of the left lung, it's been there since the beginning, and it is continuing to shrink;
3 - a lymph node that was noted as "more prominent" only grew slightly from the last scan, it could be caused by almost anything and is not necessarily cancer, just something to watch;
4 - there is a small mass in the kidney that is barely visible and looks like a cluster of grapes, which neither the oncologist or the radiologist knew how to comment about.

I take all of that as more steps in the right direction. The oncologist felt good enough about the progress that he did say let's continue the chemo. And we did.

Chemo was a little later than usual yesterday. I was the last patient in the chemo room by day's end.

Back at home we planned an easy dinner, carryout from a local pub in walking distance. After dinner I was walking up the stairs and stopped halfway because I forgot my sneakers.

I turned on the stairs and next thing I knew I was sliding down the stairs on my behind, grappling for stair bannisters and eventually catching myself after my tail bone bounced off a couple of stair treads.

Well that was exciting. Man did it hurt.

It still hurts. But it will be ok. It feels a little better this morning than it did last night.

I'm just a big goofball.

Barb and Alyssa are stompers. When they walk past the television it shakes a little.

"Well you're a shuffler," Alyssa said to me after I accused her of stomping.

She's right. I barely lift my feet when I walk. No wonder I'm always tripping over things.

My motto has long been "always trip, never fall." I didn't exactly follow that one last night.