Coming out of the oncologist's office, I felt overwhelmed for the first time, not because of the rapid detail we had fielded, but because of the chaos of the office itself.
So, after talking with Carol, we decided to exercise some control over whole situation and find a new oncologist. This is absolutely no reflection on the skills of the doctor with whom we have been working, but rather a statement that we need a better "match" for our needs.
We are fortunate to have a number of friends who have offered to help in anyway possible, so we are using that network to find another physician. We are also fortunate to have one of the finest cancer treatment centers in the world about two miles from our home: The James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University.
Before long, my requests began to pay off. About 5:00 p.m. the phone rang. It was one of the head physicians from The James. Don't overlook this; he called us! He wanted to know what was going on and how he could help. Thank you, God.
We filled him in on the situation and he said "...Let me call you right back." Five minutes later he called with one of his colleagues on the phone and we spoke for about fifteen minutes. I loved everything they had to say, and that was that. We are moving to The James.
Now on to how we accomplish this...
First we have a number of events scheduled for the next two days.
Thursday morning I'm to have an Infusaport implanted under the skin in my chest. This is a medical device that allows for delivery of drugs into the system without hunting for a vein every time. For me this is great because my veins play "hide and seek" every time someone shows up with a needle.
I'm also supposed to have an echo cardiogram Thursday afternoon, and Friday morning I'm scheduled for a bone marrow biopsy (that's going to be fun) with a Pet scan that afternoon.
We reviewed all of this with the new doctor and, due to timing, he recommended that we keep the appointments for the Infusaport implant, echo cardiogram and Pet scan, but that we drop the bone marrow biopsy. (Yeah, I'm pretty upset about not having an auger inserted into my hip and being hit with a hammer until it penetrates the bone.)
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