Today was our first consultation at Blessing Cancer Center. We met with the radiation oncologist and the entire radiation therapy team. Barnes Hospital in St. Louis had all of Scott's records forwarded to Blessing last week. We were extremely impressed at how up-to-date they were at Blessing and their knowledge of all procedures, medications, tests, scans, diagnosis, etc. occurring over the past 18 months. Blessing is the hospital where Katherine was born and their Cancer Center was established in 2007. It is a beautiful facility and the staff was so friendly and warm. We discussed the upcoming treatment plan for radiation. The radiation doctor is following the plan recommended by Barnes so we were happy to hear that news. The doctor also recommended that Scott discontinue chemo while radiation is being administered. We had an 8am appointment at Barnes tomorrow for chemo so I gladly canceled it. Scott was thrilled to hear he will get a break from chemotherapy for a while! The course of radiation treatment will be 3 weeks and he starts this Thursday (2/28). Chemo will resume after 3 weeks, probably back at Barnes.
More about radiation: Scott got an x-ray today (similar to a CT scan) of his entire body to locate the tumor. They marked his skin with permanent marker to indicate where the rays will be aimed during his external radiation therapy. This is called a simulation procedure which pinpoints the the exact size and location of the area to be treated. From this x-ray, they will make a mold which will be used to position the body for each treatment. One of the differences between chemo and radiation is radiation only targets the tumor and does not attack healthy cells. Chemo attacks all cells in the body from head to toe and that is why the side effects from chemo can be much worse. We are hoping Scott has some relief from the agonizing side effects he has experienced for the past 15 months from chemo. After 3 weeks of radiation, he will get a permanent tattoo. When the nurse said permanent tattoo we both perked up. She said it is a very small dot placed to mark the treatment site and used as a universal symbol for radiation patients. I joked and said "Oh honey, your very first tattoo!"
We came away from our appointment today feeling uplifted and confident. Although radiation is not a cure, the hope is to shrink the tumor enough to decrease the blockage in his stomach. The goal is to reduce or eliminate the vomiting every day. Scott was very sharp today, recalling every event and procedure he has been thru since August 2011. He was in a good mood and that is not always the case after we meet with a doctor. I joked with him afterwards and said "what we accomplished today would have taken 2 trips to St. Louis. In addition, to begin radiation treatment in the same week is outstanding!" In St. Louis, this would be 3 separate appointments several weeks apart. Scott's reaction was "well..that's the big city vs. small town for ya!" So glad his sense of humor was in tact today.
As always, thank-you all for your continued love, support and prayers.
Our journey continues...
Hugs to All ~ Kelly
No comments:
Post a Comment