Friday the 13th

Who scheduled my chemotherapy? April Fool's Day & Friday the 13th? Oh well, they both went well. I won't spend much time on the chemo today. I slept for a few hours during the infusion and felt a little nauseaous but overall it went very smooth. There were two things that kept waking me up, the arm-cuff to take my blood pressure went off every 30 minutes. The other noise was a 95 year old man that kept waking up and every time he would ask where he was. He seemed like a cute old guy. The nurse asked his birthday and he said 1916, so she had to coach him a bit. All in all it was a good day.

My Mother in law came to our house to get Sydney off to school. My Father in law went on a campout with Nick tonight, it was supposed to be Fathers and Sons, but Nick's Dad couldn't make it for obvious reasons. I'm grateful for our parents. My parents have done so much for us and Michelle's parents have done a lot as well!

Now for the fun part of the blog. I met with my Oncologist yesterday. She said, "You probably want some news". I had to confess that Iwent online and read the transcript but that I couldn't wait to hear it from her in plain English. I knew the results were good as the tumor shrunk from the size of a soft ball to the size of a golf ball. Well...as she began interpreting the medical speak, the news got even better. The lymph nodes have improved significantly and Melvin the tumor is essentially dead. I think I already have to rename him (the tumor formerly known as Melvin). She was so happy for us. She told us a number of times that she was tickled for us. One more chemo and then we will do a PET Scan (a Positron Emission Tomography). The test involves injecting a small radioactive chemical into my vein. The chemical is then absorbed by the organs and tissues and they are able to essentially see "hot spots". It takes about 30 minutes to be scanned but it is so detailed. They can view the insides of my body in small slices to get a better picture of what is going on.

Now if I may take a moment...I don't usually do this but I should! Dr. Legant is probably my favorite doctor ever. She has a sense of humor (I'll get to that in a minute). She doesn't try to sugarcoat everything. She gives you all of the possible outcomes and then tells you that we are shooting for the best scenario. I've heard some people don't like her because she is direct but I like that. She isn't going to tell me what I want to hear. If any of you ever come across someone that has cancer, feel free to refer them to her. She is so well liked and recognized in the industry and we love her. She is helping me get better.

Now I'll probably get into trouble for this but the last time that I met with her, I was talking to her and I told her that I needed more Lorazapam (the drug that helps with nausea and also gives me a little amnesia when it comes to Chemotherapy). She thought that she had just refilled it and I explained that she actually refilled the Zofran for me. She shrugged her shoulders and told me "Ehh, what ever you want. I always thought I would be a good drug mama." Now just to be clear, she was joking with me as she knows me well and knows that I wouldn't abuse any drugs. She then went on to say that her other career of choice would be a fan dancer. She said she would use opaque fans so she could peek through every once in a while. She is hilarious. I think we are going to try to find her some fans for my next visit.

Not feeling too sick yet. Just waiting for it to hit. Only one more treatment! I can't wait. Some good neighbors brought us dinner tonight. Homemade baked zitti. Wow!!! It was so good. Thanks Thackers! I hope all of you are doing well! I'm so grateful for good doctors and modern medicine.