Results of my ultrasound at the beginning of May are a bit unsettling. A 2.5cm mass on the ultrasound is too close to the carotid artery to be biopsied. Therefore I will have a CAT scan sometime in the next few weeks. Both oncologists and my surgeon have examined me and agree there is no sign of enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, but all agree it needs investigation.
It was somewhat worrying when I returned from a week away to three calls from my GP telling me to check with the oncologist. Then not to get a response from the cancer centre for over a week!
The last week of May will now be doctor/hospital visits almost daily, when I am scheduled to see my GP, my oncologist, more tests, and get my port removed if all is well.
Thursday we plan to take the new RV to Banff for the first Banff Centre summer festival programs. Jazz concerts Thursday to Sunday. A fitting place for my birthday Friday and dinner at the lovely Ravens restaurant there.
Now if only it would stop raining! We are deluged. Calgary and areas south of here are preparing for floods on the two rivers running through town, the Bow and the Elbow. High River ahs been aptly named. It should ease off later this week and hopefully the sun will come out for our camping plans.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
May 19 - Victoria Day and a glimpse of summer
We are finally getting hot, shorts weather. It was great to be home when everyone else was traveling and on the road. We caught up with friends, and puttered in the garden and Ted and Richard got the VW ready for sale. It looks very spiffy, somebody is going to be lucky. With a tune-up and new muffler, it is ready to roll. We already had a call from Stu and Tara (and Gavin??) not to put it on the market. They came by to test drive it yesterday so it looks like it's sold without hitting the papers. Ted has been scrubbing everything out - you could eat your dinner off the counters now. It has all the bells and whistles that anybody needs to camp out in western Canada and to cope with cold weather in the mountains - a big plus.
It was great to have a visit from Stu/Tara and Gavin's special friend Debbie from Toronto for the long weekend. Exciting news is a baby is on the way in Cochranefor late November, a first grandchild for both. tara looks radiant as she did at the wedding in UK. No wonder they looked so happy (see inset)
Spring in the Okanagan - and fun with the new RV
May 5 we take a trip over the Rockies, (also the Purcells, the Selkirks,) to Vernon to stay with Les and Sandy on and off for a week. The weather is lousy, the blossoms are late and mostly not out yet, a disappointment. However, it's a chance to test out the new Free Spirit RV. We get about 30 mpg on the trip, great with the Mercedes diesel engine. It runs smoothly and happily and has a lot of power to pull past trucks and up mountains. It's also a very comfortable vehicle and Tikal has found it likes traveling with us again. We attach the travel cage to a storage box behind the driver/passenger seats in the hall and it can look out of the window too! Ah to be on the road again.
We spend two nights in Vernon then off to the dealership to remind us of all the stuff we forgot since last Fall when we picked up the vehicle. We need some bits and pieces so shopping we go to Canadian tire in Kelowna, and buy food. By the time we camp on the lake at West Lake in Kelowna, finally get the gas stove going (some flukey on/off method with the gas) and cook dinner, I'm totally pooped. I put the bed together by 9pm and collapse into the huge King size bed that takes up the whole back end of the vehicle. Ted decides he's tired too and we sleep for 10 hours straight! It's lovely and quiet here, just the birds and ducks on the water and a bunch of seniors having a get together - they must have gone to bed early too.
Everyone wants to come by and look at our vehicle. I guess they are fairly new and with the great gas mileage, people with gigantic trailers and motor homes are salivating about how little it takes to get this thing rolling. Of course, we don't want to carry water or waste water far and look for a full hookup with power to run my microwave of course!
Everything in he RV seems to be working OK but as Ted says, the manuals don't exactly show you what's what a lot of the time. We return to the dealership in Kelowna the second day to find out how to get the TV working again!
We will go to a camp-out with a bunch of Leisure Way vehicle owners near Edmonton early next month, where I bet we will learn a thing or two about running this baby!
We're glad we did it that week because, as I write, mud slides have closed the TransCanada highway a few days lately and we may have been stuck he other side or been forced to drive the much longer southern route to get home. More melting snow threatens more avalanches for the foreseeable future.
We spend two nights in Vernon then off to the dealership to remind us of all the stuff we forgot since last Fall when we picked up the vehicle. We need some bits and pieces so shopping we go to Canadian tire in Kelowna, and buy food. By the time we camp on the lake at West Lake in Kelowna, finally get the gas stove going (some flukey on/off method with the gas) and cook dinner, I'm totally pooped. I put the bed together by 9pm and collapse into the huge King size bed that takes up the whole back end of the vehicle. Ted decides he's tired too and we sleep for 10 hours straight! It's lovely and quiet here, just the birds and ducks on the water and a bunch of seniors having a get together - they must have gone to bed early too.
Everyone wants to come by and look at our vehicle. I guess they are fairly new and with the great gas mileage, people with gigantic trailers and motor homes are salivating about how little it takes to get this thing rolling. Of course, we don't want to carry water or waste water far and look for a full hookup with power to run my microwave of course!
Everything in he RV seems to be working OK but as Ted says, the manuals don't exactly show you what's what a lot of the time. We return to the dealership in Kelowna the second day to find out how to get the TV working again!
We will go to a camp-out with a bunch of Leisure Way vehicle owners near Edmonton early next month, where I bet we will learn a thing or two about running this baby!
We're glad we did it that week because, as I write, mud slides have closed the TransCanada highway a few days lately and we may have been stuck he other side or been forced to drive the much longer southern route to get home. More melting snow threatens more avalanches for the foreseeable future.
May 20 - chasing the elusive ultrasound results...
Dr. Lui's office contact me to see if I have had any follow up yet on the ultrasound. They are concerned that if my oncologist has not arranged for a biopsy, they will do so. I am glad somebody is on the ball on this and follow up to make sure things are rolling.
May 14 - thoughts about reconstruction
I have started to do some research on the topic of reconstruction. I have talked to many women who have successfully had procedures done by a variety of means and people in Calgary. This is where you go doctor shopping if you need to!
My oncologists have made an appointment for me at the plastics (ie. plastic surgeons) breast clinic in August. Dr. Lui says I should wait at least two years before taking any action. It will probably take that long to get scheduled in. If my cancer is to return, the first two years is the most likely time it will show up again. He is the first person to actually give me that timeline.
With the extensive treatment I've had (i.e. taking half my armpit, a breast and tissue away, plus all the radiation and chemo, he thinks it unlikely I'll be a candidate for a free flap (i.e. removing tissue and blood vessels from my stomach, and successfully re-attaching them as a breast.) For the same reason, implants are out.
However, he recommends a doctor here in Calgary who is very adept at TRAM flap surgery and will refer me to him in due course. I have talked to a patient of this doctor already and she is in awe at his ability and manner and has nothing but good to say about her whole experience.
Our friends in Fernie put me in touch with a doctor who does free flap (DIEP) surgery in Los Angeles, and he has found me the names of doctors here in Calgary who are very skilled at performing this surgery, so I have some good ideas of who to talk to now.
My oncologists have made an appointment for me at the plastics (ie. plastic surgeons) breast clinic in August. Dr. Lui says I should wait at least two years before taking any action. It will probably take that long to get scheduled in. If my cancer is to return, the first two years is the most likely time it will show up again. He is the first person to actually give me that timeline.
With the extensive treatment I've had (i.e. taking half my armpit, a breast and tissue away, plus all the radiation and chemo, he thinks it unlikely I'll be a candidate for a free flap (i.e. removing tissue and blood vessels from my stomach, and successfully re-attaching them as a breast.) For the same reason, implants are out.
However, he recommends a doctor here in Calgary who is very adept at TRAM flap surgery and will refer me to him in due course. I have talked to a patient of this doctor already and she is in awe at his ability and manner and has nothing but good to say about her whole experience.
Our friends in Fernie put me in touch with a doctor who does free flap (DIEP) surgery in Los Angeles, and he has found me the names of doctors here in Calgary who are very skilled at performing this surgery, so I have some good ideas of who to talk to now.
May 13/14 Dentists, doctors...
After all the ravages of this treatment, my mouth is still tender and sore. The gums have receded and my dentist now sees me every 4 months for a minor clean and check. He has found the beginning of decay in a back tooth so fixes it right away.
A month ago I decided I would like to see my surgeon, Dr. Robert Lui, again, 14 months after surgery, although I have no real problems to discuss with him. He takes lots of time to chat and examine me thoroughly. He is concerned that I have not heard the results of my May 2 ultrasound and will check them himself next day. I later find he called me both days subsequently then left a message for Linda in his office to contact me after the long weekend. I find there is an irregularity with something hidden behind an artery in my neck, so another biopsy is called for. I contact my oncologists again to find out what is happening. I will call daily until they return my calls!
Dr. Lui is a first class surgeon, with an excellent manner and caring, concerned attitude. We both like him a lot. After his examination he is happy that there is no enlargement of any palpable lymph nodes so I feel relieved that he agrees with Dr. Paterson on this. Linda in his office is also a delightful person to deal with, all this makes it easier when you are going through the system and have questions that need answers. He is very confident in my GP Dr. Waymouth which makes me feel good too.
A month ago I decided I would like to see my surgeon, Dr. Robert Lui, again, 14 months after surgery, although I have no real problems to discuss with him. He takes lots of time to chat and examine me thoroughly. He is concerned that I have not heard the results of my May 2 ultrasound and will check them himself next day. I later find he called me both days subsequently then left a message for Linda in his office to contact me after the long weekend. I find there is an irregularity with something hidden behind an artery in my neck, so another biopsy is called for. I contact my oncologists again to find out what is happening. I will call daily until they return my calls!
Dr. Lui is a first class surgeon, with an excellent manner and caring, concerned attitude. We both like him a lot. After his examination he is happy that there is no enlargement of any palpable lymph nodes so I feel relieved that he agrees with Dr. Paterson on this. Linda in his office is also a delightful person to deal with, all this makes it easier when you are going through the system and have questions that need answers. He is very confident in my GP Dr. Waymouth which makes me feel good too.
May 2 - Ultrasound baseline in my neck lymphs
I am surprised at how quickly I get in for this test, which was supposed to take a few weeks. the tech sees something but not sure what. Later after a week in the Okanagan, I have 3 phone calls from my GP telling me to check with my oncologist. When I do, I am told they will make an appointment for me to discuss the results with her. But by May 20 I have heard nothing.
Apr 25 - Oncology windup - but more tests
April 25 I see the windup of my active treatment with my oncologists. Although Dr. Paterson still oversees my treatment, I see Dr. Lisa Pickering for the second time. She is thorough about checking me over and suggests an ultrasound to check the lymph nodes in my neck, which shrank after the first chemo treatment. It is unlikely that cancer cells are lurking there but an ultrasound will provide baseline information. They both agree with our suggestion that as mammograms did not find my cancer, an MRI will be done alternate years with a mammogram on the remaining left breast. I am scheduled to see Dr. Paterson in six months in October an dshould have the MRI before then.
I am now returned to the excellent care of my GP, Dr. Pat Waymouth, who I see every 3 months, and who will now check my lymph nodes at the same time.
Arriving back from UK on Wednesday night, Thursday morning I discover a note in the mail arranging a final MUGA cardiac test appointment for 1pm that day! I jump into my clothes and Ted drives me up there and waits the hour or so that it takes to remove some blood, add radioactive trackers and video my heart 10 minutes each side. All seems well.
I am now returned to the excellent care of my GP, Dr. Pat Waymouth, who I see every 3 months, and who will now check my lymph nodes at the same time.
Arriving back from UK on Wednesday night, Thursday morning I discover a note in the mail arranging a final MUGA cardiac test appointment for 1pm that day! I jump into my clothes and Ted drives me up there and waits the hour or so that it takes to remove some blood, add radioactive trackers and video my heart 10 minutes each side. All seems well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)