Clearer Vision

I was lying down for a nap Saturday afternoon when I heard the phone ring.

Now a nap has to be on top of the comforter on the bed, in your full clothes (except shoes). If you climb under the blankets at all it is more than a nap. It's going back to bed.

Barb had the upstairs phone downstairs so I wouldn't be disturbed while napping. She's sweet that way. But right after I heard the phone ringing I heard her running up the stairs. I immediately figured that this was something important and that this call was for me. I raced through my head who could possibly be calling. It could be my Mom. It could be the Phillies calling me to play third base. It could be President Obama.

It was my oncologist. No one had been able to reach him for the past week. I know the nurses were peppering him with calls and e-mails. I left one message for him. We though he had run away and joined a salsa band.

He explained to me that he was in Montreal, Canada and he did not have international calling on his cell phone. He was receiving all incoming messages but was not able to respond to anyone.

Well at least it wasn't a salsa band.

He assured me several times that he wasn't "abandoning me." I really didn't think he was. I just felt that he had left for a conference with a lot of nurses and at least one patient (ME!) scratching their heads with questions.

I explained to him that I called the University of Pennsylvania upon his advisement and attempted to make an appointment with a doctor there. The goal was to advise with someone who was considered a kidney cancer specialist for further insight on my condition. The problem was the doctor called back, through his secretary, and explained that he did not feel "experienced enough for my diagnosis."

My oncologist was rather surprised by this. But he did add, "Well at least he was honest about it."

I then told him that I was planning on getting my crew together, hopping on a train, and making an appointment at Sloan-Kettering in New York City. He was all for that. He even knew the head of the kidney cancer department there and gave his hearty endorsement.

My main objective of the day is to make that appointment.

Another frustration I had with my oncologist was his refusal to allow me to go back onto one of the chemotherapies I had previously used. But on the phone he took a complete turnabout, saying that he would never ignore a patient's input and opinion and if that's what I wanted he would be happy to provide it.

I wasn't ready for that, quite surprised. But he did quickly state that chemos used a second time typically only have a five-percent response rate. It gave me something to think about.

So waking up this morning my plan is to first make an appointment in NYC, find a train schedule and a hotel room to match, while continuing my radiation treatments and my Interferon injections all this week.

We have a member of our church congregation who has cancer and at one point was not doing well at all. Her son came down from Connecticut and picked her up and took her to Sloan-Kettering for help. Since then she's been nothing but stronger and healthier. She credits that cancer center for making such a dramatic impact to her cancer care.

We don't have the same type of cancer. But I am hoping for similar results.