Monday, October 6, 2008

I thought today would be uneventful...

I was wrong.

Lets start with yesterday. I went to the Detroit Lions football game with a few friends and had a great time. But man do they suck. I don't even like football, but was embarrassed to be from a city near Detroit. Anyways, we went to The Beach on the way home (a bar) and had some food, wings and sliders for me...when I got home I was suddenly very tired. Diletta had just ordered some food from a local Lebanese restaurant ... so I had to have a bit more food. So I ate...then I felt more tired...then I felt sick...Nauseated...then I dispelled all I had eaten. After that I continued to feel crappy with some hot flashes coming and going...checked my temperature and it got up to 99.1 - not very high, but still increased. Anyways, it went away and I felt fine by 11.

Then Monday arrived...Went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and a filling done. Because of the Chemo, hey strongly recommend that you take good care of your mouth. So I plan on getting my teeth cleaned professionally once a month for the next 6-8 months. The dentist was great - he is aware of my diagnosis and was very accommodating to get me in on such short notice (i called late last week). He also took some extra time with me to ensure that I knew that if I needed anything, that I could just ask.

By the way, I have received a ton of emails and messages that said just that. "if you need anything, just ask" - thanks to all of you!

From the dentist I went over to the states to visit the sperm bank...It went like this "hi, you know where to go, hi again, pay here, thanks, bye" - I obviously left out a major part.


Then I went to Karmanos - Ug. A little pissed still from last week because I didn't get my pathology report on Thursday. I had to call on Friday ... and she hadn't...ah, i won't get started. But, one more fact I will state is that she was on the phone with me Friday saying that she was getting my slides. I left it from her that I would be there Monday to get the slides and to find out when my appointment was booked for...


So, I called Karmanos (Lena) when I left "the bank" and no answer...no problem, I'll just show up and pick up the slides - because she obviously had already picked them up. I get there and at the front desk ask for her and she's not in today. What? The lady at the front desk actually said "This is America you either come to work or you don't" ... I laughed. Anyways, I knew she had a counterpart, Ian, who might be in. So I asked for him and the lady at the front called up and said for me to come up. He greeted me and asked how he could help...I simply asked for the slides and when my next appointment was. So we went into her office to get the slides and see when the appointment was. No slides and no appointment. hmmmm....


Ian proceeded to work the phones and see what he could do for me...he was great. Called several different people to see if he could get me into either Dr. Schiffer or Dr. Saunders - as far as I know, the top 2 guys. So he couldn't do it until after my chemo started...But what he did set me up for was an appointment for Monday afternoon with Dr. Ram Shandran. Not necessarily a lymphoma guy of the caliber of Schiffer or Saunders (as far as I know)...


In the meantime, Dr. Hamms office called and set me up with a CT scan for tomorrow at noon (Tuesday). They also told me that I have to drink a cocktail for the scan. This call actually occurred while Ian was on the phone ... and a little while after the CT scan call Ian offered an appointment with Dr. Ranji Morris - which I had to turn down.


Also in the meantime, Dr. Hamm's office called again to tell me that if I wanted to start the chemo on Thursday (THIS THURSDAY) I could...what? now? 3 days from now? ummmmm...we had plans for Thanksgiving...I just told them that I had to talk to my wife and family to see what we all thought.

So back to Ian...he was great. At the end I asked why this (what he had done for me) had not been done already? He didn't know...

I then headed back to Canada to go pick up my Readi-CAT (that is the actual name of the cocktail) for the CT Scan...but, apparently I was on the Wednesday roster and not the Tuesday roster. The lady made a quick call to see if they could just put me in on Tuesday. She referenced Dr. Hamm/Cancer Center and they said yes. She asked me if i could come in a bit earlier, 11am and I asked if they could do it even earlier...she said how about 8:30am...Perfect! She handed me the cocktail (which is about 500ml and to be consumed 2 hours before the scan followed by the same amount of water 1 hour before the scan - and I am to consume nothing 4 hours before the scan) and I was off. So I'll be up at 6:30 am to drink Readi-CAT - awesome.

I immediately called Ian at Karmanos and told him I was able to change the CT scan and wondered if he could get me the 12:30 with Dr. Ranji Morris tomorrow...he said I have to call immediately...bye. I called him back 5min later and he had set up the appointment. This is KEY-the lymphoma department at Karmanos meets every Tuesday afternoon around 4pm to discuss all new cases. Also, they are academic (research) based so they are likely at the cutting edge of all new treatments and clinical trials. So, Dr. Morris should be able to present my case that Tuesday and I will likely get a report from my appointment and from the meeting (as far as Ian understood it anyways). Either way, this is great...

I thought a bit more about whether or not I should be spending this time and money on getting a second opinion...even if I walk into the Karmano's Oncologist office and she says "Why are you here? I would do the exact same thing" - I'll give him a high five, say see ya later and leave...I just need that second expert to say yes, you are going down the right path. However, one other aspect that Ian was able to point out is that I may be able to start a different process if this chemo does not work. They will have all my info for secondary treatments - this makes sense to me and reinforces why I should seek a second opinion. btw - this costs $400. For the peace of mind...not bad.

So now to the curve ball Dr. Hamm threw at me...should I start the chemo Thursday or wait til next Wednesday. Diletta and I weighed the options....If I wait until next week I will : 1. have my port in, 2. have the weekend to mentally prepare, 3. be able to physically heal more (I am still sore), 4. get to spend thanksgiving with my family and 5. will likely have more results in terms of staging (which may or may not be beneficial). The only thing holding me back is the thought that Sooner has to be better. It has to be...very logical and certainly very important. So, I called my mom, grandma and then was able to speak to Patrick. Diletta, mom and grandma asked what Dr. Hamm thought and that I should ask her ... Patrick told me that it doesn't matter. He asked the same thing when he began to go through this...This sold me. I'm waiting till next week to start chemo.

1 comment:

Abbey said...

Hello, My name is Abbey Downham
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Thank you, Abbey