Highs and Lows

I was just too tired to blog last night when I got home from Mayo but here is the update.

Wednesday

Mom and I trekked over to Jacksonville for what felt like the one millionth time. Got there 8 minutes before my first appointment. Then hiked from the parking lot to the first building. For a place that is full of patients with critical health issues and located in Florida (200% humidity on a good day with temperatures over 90 and a hotbed of COVID), why is the parking the lot so far way? I know they want a pretty campus but really?!? We parked in Lot B (very near where the P is) because we had appointments at Davis, Mayo, and Cannaday - the length of these three buildings is an entire city block. So we hiked to Davis, my appointment is near where the building name is on the map. We then scurried to Mayo for a CT scan. Besides having to drink the barium solution, which is challenging now because liquids and me are not great friends. Got in and out then off to Cannaday for my fourth COVID test. I have had so many tests now, I think I could do it myself (or for others)! I have to say it is nice to be in a medical facility that gets you in at your appointment time more than not. We were done at Mayo by 4:15. Three appointments in about 75 minutes. Unheard of!



Target on the other hand was not so smooth! On the way to Mayo, I realized that I needed something. So I did a quick curbside order. It takes up to four hours to process. I was good with that. Then we got to hotel and I realized I lost my foam hand soap. I called Target to see if I could add one bottle of foam soap. The answer was No! Once an order has been submitted and is being processed, you cannot add something. He told me that I could just come in the store. I explained I was a cancer patient who was not going to come into the store and I felt this was terrible customer service. My mom said I was being being unreasonable but I stand by my disgust. I had to put in a separate order, which was given a 2-4 hour window. It took them two hours to process one bottle of foam soap.

Thursday

Geared up and waiting for Dr. M, hoping for good news!

We met with Dr. M at 9:45 AM. He said that the CT scan showed stability. While there was no growth (yay!), there was no shrinkage either (boo). He said that regardless of the decision of the surgeon to move forward with surgery or do one more round of chemo, there would be no chemo today. He says I am a trooper but I need a break. The chemo I am on is aggressive and from what I have described to him, my body needs a break. I asked him if we were going to do chemo to just do it today rather than coming back next week but he said no! It wasn't about getting through this, it was about me getting through this and I needed a break. I said OK.

Waiting for Dr. G!

Then we met with the surgeon, Dr. G. He agreed there was no growth but also no shrinkage. He had talked to the radiologist to confirm this. This is the reason I like Mayo is their team approach. I really like my two doctors Dr. M and Dr. G because they do not have egos when it comes to saving my life. They are focused on giving me the best quality of life and work together so well. Dr. G said that I have to have a MRI before he will schedule surgery. I was deflated. Why wasn't this schedule for the day before? He wants to rule out the PET scan results showing activity on my heart as being part of this cancer. He explained it could be from a past infection or something else. I asked if it could be residual effects of radiation when I was a child. He thanked me for reminding him of that and said he felt strongly that could be the answer. If there are any suspicious results of the MRI, the cardiothoracic surgeon may have to do a biopsy. Really? As if this could not have been done after my initial PET scan. But I am choosing to focus on the positives that the MRI will confirm my diagnosis and we will then get a surgery date.

He explained the surgery to us. It will be aggressive but with age and the fact I am in good shape, isn't that funny, he is very optimistic. After surgery, recovery will long. He says I will feel like I have been beat up for several weeks but that will just be a good reason to watch a lot of movies and TV series. Clearly, I know how to plan a vacation!

The good news is that he says I can eat anything I want to get my calories and strength up. So to reward us from a not awesome day (although it could have been worse), we stopped and got cheesecake on the way home:

Right now the MRI is scheduled for July 30 but you all know me, I am working hard to get that sooner rather than later. I am ready for a surgery date.

For today. . . I'm just sayin' XOXO