My Oncologist . . .

. . . is a real cutie!

I have to apologize to everyone because I had fully intended to update my blog yesterday after my appointment with CancerCare. What with the appointment, the weather, the WSO/RETSD concert yesterday afternoon at KEC, and the excitement of having my friend from Toronto flying in for a visit, I just did not get a chance!

Yesterday The Old Boot and I met for the first time with the oncologist who will be supervising my chemotherapy. This time he was indeed in, but of course it took some time before we got to see him.

First we were interviewed by a nurse who checked my height and weight (for those of you who are interested, a measly 106 pounds), and reviewed my history. Then we were interviewed by an intern and an observing medical student, who went over the whole history again and in addition asked about my current medical status, including how much pain I am in, how well I'm eating, how I'm feeling generally, etc. And finally, the introduction to Dr. Cutie.

I'm calling him Dr. Cutie because I don't think it's fair to post his real name on a public forum such as a blog without his consent.

Anyway, Dr. Cutie, the intern and the medical student all came in and we had a nice long chat about the proposed treatment plan. The first thing to do is to have an MRI so the team has a baseline of the tumor's size and the status of the local lymph glands. That should take about two weeks to get done. Chemotherapy should start in about three weeks. Unfortunately, two clinical trials have just closed so I'm not eligible for them, but another one may be opening up in a few weeks. If the trial is appropriate for me, the team may delay chemotherapy until I can join the trial.

The specific chemotherapy for me is not going to be as punishing as I had feared. According to Dr. Cutie, it's fairly well tolerated by most people, with mild flu-like symptoms occurring after each dose. The first round of chemo would be once a week for seven weeks, then a one week break; the following rounds would be on again for three weeks and a one week break.

My biggest concern regarding chemo has been my weight loss. I need to have some margin for those days when the chemo makes me too ill to eat. My last weight measurement in the hospital was 122 pounds, so I have lost 16 pounds since then which isn't too surprising because I was unable to eat much for quite a while. Now I can eat a fairly good range and amount of food every day although I have to eat several small meals because my stomach is smaller than it was. The big problem, however, is that I am not absorbing any fat because my pancreas is still not behaving and producing the enzymes required to digest fats. It's gosh-darn hard to eat enough fruits, vegetables and grains to put on any weight! Gotta have some fat!!!!!

Dr. Cutie agreed with my assessment of my weight situation and gave me a prescription for pancreatic enzymes in pill form that I take at each meal, so hopefully I can start putting some weight back on. I took the first one at supper last night. I don't know if it was the enzyme pill or the day's excitement that made my digestive tract go into a tizzy. I didn't experience any nausea, but my tummy gurgled a symphony for about four hours after I ate and I felt sort of bloated and uncomfortable. A nice long walk probably would have alleviated the problem but no way was I going out in that yucky wind last night! Wandering around the house doesn't have the same therapeutic effect as a brisk walk.

That's all for now. Keep warm, everyone!

-- Lori