Visit to the Oncologist

Yesterday, Janette, Aunt Eliska and I visited the oncologist. Doesn’t that sound like the opening line for a joke? The joke is each of us came out of there with a slightly different story of what was said and what is going to happen. Fortunately, the doctor knows what he is going to do and doesn’t need our consensus.

First, we liked Dr. Alemar very much. He was straightforward, kind, listened well and seemed very knowledgeable and up-to-date on the latest research. He talked about overall health and quality of life, gave no prognosis on life expectancy but let us know the possibility is strong for years as opposed to months. We all felt positive and relieved after our visit.

His first priority is the vocal cord paralysis and maybe radiation therapy for some of the bone cancer to relieve the pain that just may be starting. With one vocal cord paralyzed, there’s a fair risk of Janette developing aspirant pneumonia. Chemotherapy greatly stresses (represses?) the immune system and Dr. Alemar is worried about the pneumonia risk. He wants to do all he can to fix or lessen that problem. We have a swallow study scheduled for Tuesday and when the ENT doctor gets the oncology consultation report, he will likely schedule other studies.

Dr. Alemar is also ordering a study of various chemo treatments on the biopsied lymph node cells from two weeks ago. He has a couple of combinations in mind, based on his conversation with Janette about her symptoms, and will see what is effective in those cells. This oncology group has a brand new office building 4 blocks from Aunt Eliska’s house and about 1 mile from Janette’s. The office is new, the equipment is new and the chemo room is supposed to be very comfortable with a beautiful view of trees and plants. We were comforted by this image and by the new radiation technology and equipment.

Cathy

Next appointments: 4-21, swallow study and radiation therapist consultation.