I had my WORST. DOCTOR. VISIT. EVER. on Thursday. I thought I was going to be starting immunotherapy, and according to Dr. Lewis, my nice oncologist, it was going to zap my cancer with very little discomfort. But nice Dr. Lewis was out sick, (very very sick, as in they’re not sure he’ll ever come back) and his partner, a lady from India, is very hard to understand. Also very cold and blunt. She said she was going to go over my lab results with me, and I said no, I was there for immunotherapy. She said the lab analysis showed my cancer won’t respond to immunotherapy, and because it metastasized from my colon, I’m automatically at level 4, and it can’t be cured, but they’ll start me on chemo. All that in a couple of sentences! I was reeling. I wanted to yell, “Get me Dr. Lewis!” but she read my thoughts and told me Dr. Lewis would tell me the same thing. I’m sure she’s right. Long story short: I have to get another CT scan to have a baseline for my tumors’ sizes, and have a port implanted in my chest, and then they can start the chemo. Each time I have chemo, I’ll wear a pump for 48 hours at home. They’ll do that four times, over 8 weeks, and then give me another CT scan to see if the tumors are responding. If they aren’t, we’ll re-evaluate. She said they won’t keep me on chemo and make me miserable if it isn’t doing any good. I asked her, “Do people sometimes cry at this point?” and she said, Oh, yes, go ahead and cry. But I didn’t. I still think I have a lot of years left. My patriarchal blessing says “your days will be lengthened, to fill your mission with joy and satisfaction.” I have a lot of faith in that. Also, a ton of people are going to be praying for me, including you kids and your children. And my brothers and sisters. And our ward. And dozens of other people. I got a funny text from Bonnie that said: “Maybe the immunotherapy would have been a waste of time? The chemo will kick your cancer’s a**! You’ve got this, and I’ll pray hard for you.” With such a big wonderful family pulling for me, I’m going to make it!
Let’s see, what else is going on? We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving! We’ll just have Donna’s and Tom’s families on Thursday, so for those of you who are going to the in-laws, I hope you have a wonderful time! Oh, our cabin is looking really good. They’ve moved the furniture back in, so we’re almost there! Sharon, you can definitely stay there over Christmas!
What else? Our kitties are always wonderful. I was sleeping in Dad’s recliner because my neck was hurting, and Scout came walking down the hall and into our bedroom. I grabbed him and laid him across my chest, and he started purring loudly. Cat therapy! It’s the best.
Lots of love, Mom
