Meeting w/ Dr O'Reilly

11.29.2011

We thought yesterday would be an eventful day, but we didn’t think it would be a long one… We were up @ 5am and didn’t get home until 8:45pm. While it was a long day for us it was just as long for Bradley (The Black Lab) who “held-it” all that time!!! Fantastic! The best part of the day was realizing he has a strong bladder J. He has earned the title of “Camel” God Bless Labs!

So after much anticipation I met with my Dr., Eileen O’Reilly along with the team, thankfully they were even more of what I wanted than I had hoped. I can truly say that everyone I come in contact with at Sloan is quite strong, pleasant, and smart, I have not hit a “bad attitude” yet.

The bottom line with Dr O’Reilly was that

1)   They still cannot identify the Tumor as Cancer (but it is). They did many tests yesterday to get a positive id; Blood tests, Cat Scans, (Regular and the ones with the contrast dye that makes u warm) Cat scans on Pancreas, Abdomen, Chest, etc. Then they did Echo grams on my heart, my throat, and the center of my chest. The Scans make me quite anxious- but I did a great job of “envisioning” I envisioned the people I love and somehow the Lab Bradley popped up too! The Echo thing sucked! The room was freezing, it took for ever etc….

2)   Her team will meet on Thursday and review the results, if they cannot get the proof to diagnose the Cancer, they will quickly do another “Scope” on me (yuk)

3)   They then proceeded to prepare me for a treatment plan – I will begin Chemotherapy shortly. They will install a Port under my skin and over my muscle in my chest. The Drugs will be administered through this port. I will get a cocktail of medications that are quite strong. They feel I can take the strong version, and it will be much more effective at fighting the cancer. This is why they scan my heart etc.  I would go to the Center on E53rd Street 2x every other week. Once for the dosage, then I leave with a portable bag of medicine that keeps feeding over the two days, then I go back to the Center and they take the feeder off me. I am trying to prepare my mind for all of this, I am not fully prepared as it is all new, and scary, BUT I WILL BE THERE AND READY WHEN THE TIME COMES! (although that’s hard to imagine right now L)

For the last 2 days I have felt much better, I think the replacement of the smaller stent with the larger stent last Monday has made a huge difference (huge) What a relief this is, the first time I have been not completely nauseous in 6 weeks. It is WONDERFUL. I do have some pain in my abdomen, back, and chest still- however I am getting new meds from Dr Reilly to help with those ailments.

I managed to visit Gary Debenedetto this week in Port Jeff – The Chiropractor. My friend Joe spent most of the day Monday chauffeuring me around Long Island to various appointments. I have admiration for Gary, he is a strong guy with great spirituality, and I have known him for at least 15 years, sold him many cars and been a patient etc. So I gave him my news and he pulled right up and sat and talked for just under 2 hours, he was amazing, so supportive so caring. His main message and advice was to follow my “innate knowledge” the things I know will make me strong, the people I need to rely on, the environment I need to be in etc. He gave me lots of nutrition tips, which were a bit obvious, simple as drinking large amounts of water. But I find I need to hear things more than once for them to truly impact me. Gary was so glad I choose Sloan Kettering. I left Gary’s Office feeling stronger and happier than I have since the start of this challenge. I even was singing to my IPOD that night J!

 ********** 11.30******  Update on treatment.

I just received an “UpDate” on my Sloan Kettering patient website- They made an appointment for me with a nutritionist on 12/6 but also a follow up on 12/13 with Dr O’Reilly AND a date at the Treatment suite 2 hours after the Dr appt. . I feel confident that will be the minor surgery appointment installing the Port and then the treatment center will be the first Chemo treatment- I will keep you posted, and should know for sure on Thursday night.

Love John