Sunshine

Sun was shining bright when I woke up this morning and what a welcome sight.  Think it even made me feel better.  My first thought was to wonder how everything would go today with Dr. Mahajan, my oncologist.  At some point, we will schedule surgery.


First thing he checked, were the palms of my hands.  I knew immediately what he was looking for.  One of the major side effects of this chemo drug is peeling, black and blue skin on the palms of hand and the soles of feet.  I had been looking for it too, but nothing so far.  He said it was an indication as to how well your body was tolerating the drug.  He said this was the new generation cancer drug and was very effective and with fewer side effects.  I have been very fortunate, I think, regarding side effects. I still have my hair...though, I did go through the thought and grieving process for that. Certainly scary when you read the insert with the medication.  There have been some; digestive problems, loss of appetite, sore throat, smell affected, shedding of hair (similar to after having my babies) sleep problems, and just very tired.  I can hardly pull my wagon at all without huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf! 


My blood pressure was still up and has been since I initially got sick.  I thought it was from the medications I am taking but Dr. Mahajan says it is my body's reaction to the pain.  We reviewed all that has occurred since my last appointment with him.  Today was radiation treatment #27.  Three more to go and he was happy to see I was handling that well also.  He told me the radiation would continue to shrink the growth and he anticipated the growth to be half the size in one month.  An MRI will be done then.  He said if one was done now, it wouldn't show true progress and could even be larger due to the swelling of all the tissues from the radiation.  My smell, taste, and some of the other side effects will lessen over the coming weeks with fatigue being the last to cave.  We set up an appointment in two weeks with Dr. Brillant, the lead surgeon.  He will coordinate with Dr. Sharts, the neurosurgeon to get my wagon rolling.


To add to the angst of all of this, the company I work for is merging and come January 1, 2010, my current insurance plan will disappear.  I am checking all of the current physicians involved to see if they are  "in network" for the new plans.  If not, that complicates life quickly.  Dr. Sharts is not....but his group apparently, are the only neurosurgeons in this area, so they told me the insurance company "may" allow it.  "May" is not what I want to hear, but hopefully, if all goes as planned, we will have the surgery done by then....successfully, I might add!


Considering all that transpired today, I actually feel pretty good...gotta be the sunshine!  Thank you God, I needed that.


PCQ