MD Anderson is a wonderful institution and I will never complain about anything they do, however at times it does get to be a little frustrating. Scott and I came in Monday and I was ready to get started. Schedules keep getting changed and we ended up spending the whole week visiting doctors and getting final check-ups and instructions. Friday I went in and got fit for a mold I will be in every time I get the radiation treatment. This is very precise and they need for me to be in the same exact position every time. So, they put me on the table and created a mold that will fit my body. I was told they would give me a tattoo they would line up on with laser beams to make certain I was in the exact correct position each time. (I was kind of hoping for a tattoo of a pin up girl in a bikini like they used to put on the bomber airplanes during WII.) I have a black cross on my front that runs from the top of my chest down to my waist line. I have two more black crosses - one on each side. You get the feeling you are going to be used for target practice - which, in a way, I guess I am.
Treatment starts tomorrow - Monday with oral chemotherapy and radiation treatment. This will happen five days per week for two weeks and then the radiation treatment will stop. I will go into a second phase of chem with a 4 hour intravenous injection of chemo every two weeks. I will do that a couple of times here and then go back to Albuquerque and have a couple of treatments there and then a rest period and back for surgery.
I have been okay with everything until this week when they gave me instructions and medication to take when I become sick and/or nauseated from the treatment. I didn't know I was supposed to do that - now I am worried about it.
I continue to be blessed. We went to church this morning and a couple sat next to us. He asked if we were from Houston - he asked if we had come to visit family - finally he asked why were in Houston. I told him we were here to visit MD Anderson. After Church, this couple looked for, and caught up with us as we were ready to walk out the door. They gave us their names and phone number and told us to be sure to call them if we needed anything and asked for our phone number so they could check in on us. Another pair of complete strangers who are going out of their way to open up their hearts to a couple from Albuquerque they had never seen, before today. This experience with cancer has taught me a lot. Believe it or not, there has been a lot of good that has come out of this experience. Once again - thank all of you for your support and your prayers.
AL
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2 comments:
Hey Al,
Oh Al, thank you so much for sharing with all of us what you're dealing with. If we've never been through what you're going through it doesn't seem so real but when we hear you explain it we become a part of it. We ARE keeping you in our prayers and even though it won't be easy, we KNOW that all will go well with you.
Speak things as though they are...praise God for your healing now, even before the chemo. He said, by my blood you are healed. we just need to accept his healing.
We're thinking about you and praying for you.
We love you.
Linda and Bill
Hey, where is the Blog entry for yesterday?! No slacking off now. :-)
So by now you're already 1/5 of the way through the first treatment. Keep up the good work.
I do want to take a minute here to thank Mom who has been doing an outstanding job making sure Dad has three good nutritious meals each day. He's actually put on a few pounds again which is good. Next week John will take over and then Andrew the following week.
Thanks to everyone for all of the support!
Scott
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