Two docs Two opinions...

May 17, 2017: visit with oncologist. Well this was quite a different story from yesterday. One thing that was quite interesting was viewing the CT scan and have the pictures explained to us. We both now have a clear picture of how the mass is around that important artery which makes it inoperable. However, Dr Liu, oncologist still feels there might be a chance. It was also interesting to see all the various organs and how the pancreas is “hidden” or whatever by all the other organs.

Regarding the possible chemo holiday (see May 16) – NO. And it is not negotiable per Dr Liu. She does not want to risk the cancer growing, especially after all the work, chemo and radiation to get us to this point. Makes sense. So now plan is another CT in another couple months, chemo until then. But rather than think about 2 months, think of it as only 4 more chemo and 1 is tomorrow, so almost done! How’s that for a positive spin?

Meanwhile we have an appointment to take Mercy the motorhome into the shop. The mobile guy was unable to fix it. We can use it without propane but if it gets hot, we’d want the a/c and without propane, no a/c. With electricity hook up we’d have a/c but I was thinking about taking it over to Yuma for a few days get away.

May 16, 2017: radiologist visit at UCSD. He felt it was too soon after radiation to see effect on the CT. Gosh, why did we (oncology requested) get the CT done too soon. Dr Murphy says at this point he would consider David stable. Suggests it might be time for a Chemo Holiday. He also talked some about surgery. It really doesn’t sound like it would be a possibility. Surgery is not a piece of cake; even the 35 year old is having a struggle recovering so consider David is almost twice that. We ended the visit by David saying maybe we can go on a cruise after all. Dr Murphy said GO on the cruise, don’t just talk about it.

May 12 2017 No News

The journey continues, I haven’t posted anything in a while because it seemed there was no news and little activity, so what to write about. Well, there is still no news but there will be soon. David had another CT scan, this is the first one after radiation and of course we really wonder what it will show. Wouldn’t it be great if they said, hey, we don’t see anything! That probably won’t happen but fun to think about. It’s all this waiting that is testing our strength. Next oncology appointment is Wednesday, May 17^th. I am not sure how much she can tell us, as any surgery would really be determined by the surgeon. My understanding is he will automatically get the CT scan for him to also review. But as to how smooth that flows, I am not sure and will follow up if needed but right now, trusting the system.

David also has a follow up appointment with the doctor at UCSD. That is next Tuesday. At least it is at 1:30 p.m. so we can manage the traffic. We get to park over by the small building, so that too will be quite easy and uncomplicated to do (vs. finding a spot in the parking garage and then inputting a code for “paying” for the spot).

At last we got to join our Escapee Shanty Shaker chapter for a rally. It was great seeing everyone after such a long absence on our part. It had also been a long time since we had stayed in our Rv. We did not have a lot of our usual stuff in the RV and when we discovered a propane leak which meant we had to shut off the propane leaving us with no hot water we were not happy campers. I don’t mind using the camp ground showers (these were very nice) but I have shower shoes, bags and soap that weren’t with me. I managed but missed having “things”. Cooking was not an issue as the casino had a very nice café that we visited on several occasions. It was fun going to eat with our group and reconnecting.

We have a mobile RV repair scheduled to come out to the house. Hopefully he can replace the LP regulator and see why the electric side of the water heater is not working. RVs and boats always need something repaired! I am doing my bit to help the small family business. Houses need continual care too; the hallway bathroom toilet seat bolts were lying on the floor when we returned. Looks like they had just broken off. Got a new toilet seat and I put in the new screws and seat. Repairs everywhere.