Hi Shiny Friends, December 8th is here. This afternoon, Vij, Giselle and I will trek to Sunnybrook to meet two separate doctors about my liver artery and the viability of the liver chemo pump to blast my tumours directly. Eryn is going to call into the appointment as she is in Seattle on work. The main guy my artery needs to satisfy is Dr Yoo-Joung Ko. He did several degrees in Toronto then he moved to do his Fellowship and Masters at Harvard & MIT. Following the fellowship, he stayed on as Harvard faculty and was funded by a career award from the National Cancer Institute. I have heard Harvard & MIT are decent schools and he seems to have a few things going for him. Not bad. The other guy spearheaded the establishment of the HepatoPancreaticoBiliary Community of Surgical Oncologists: Clinical, Evaluative, and Prospective Trials Team (HPB CONCEPT Team), a Canada-wide consensus-based framework for liver and pancreas cancer research. Say that 5 times fast. He is Paul Karanicolas, MD, PhD. According to the Sunnybrook website: The HPB CONCEPT teams goals are to improve the care of patients with HPB cancers through investigator-initiated research and to provide a forum for developing high-impact clinical trials. Dr. Karanicolas also conducts research examining quality of life in patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Little is known about the impact of surgery on quality of life in patients with advanced malignancies. Dr. Karanicolas research team is implementing an electronic framework to measure quality of life systematically in all patients undergoing surgery for cancer to allow prospective, long-term follow-up of these patients. I have no idea what they are going to say to me. Dr. Calvin Law had planned to attend, but apparently he is in Australia this week. The MRI I had last Thursday night went well and I tried to perform optimally so they could get the best pictures of my liver possible. I would hate to miss out on a pump due to a bad image. It was actually a lot of pressure. Giselle drove me down and I was called in very quickly. A four foot Indian guy was my nurse. He looked up at all 6 feet of me and asked that I changed and meet him back in that very spot so he could set up the needle for the MRI dye injection. Wait, needle?? He looked at me puzzled. Yes, you had a needle last time, you do not remember? I remember the Ativan I replied. He blushed, laughed, and assured me there was a needle. My poor, poor vein. I whipped up my sleeve and showed him the bruising from the week. He sighed and said he would do all he could to minimize the discomfort. We needed the very same vein of course. What can you do? When in Rome... I suited up in the gowns and felt incredibly stupid wearing a blue mini-dress with patent loafers and no socks. He led me to a bed and worked very carefully on my arm. He warmed it and managed to hit the vein without too much pain. Then, he led me to the MRI machine in a very cold room. They adjusted the bed for my height and had me squeeze in. I was then layered with heavy plates and strapped down like Hannibal Lecter (short one face mask). The nurses repeatedly asked me to work to control my breezing. It needed to be even, rhythmic and smooth the entire 55 minutes. If I sped up, slowed down or fell asleep (are you kidding me??) then the pictures would be blurry, hampering the doctors ability to help me. Furthermore, if the photos are really bad, they would send me back for a even more unpleasant test. Great. I felt like I was just told not to scratch an itch. That just makes it more itchy. Watch me get the hiccups. They turned on the machine and I was squeezed in the tube and pulled backwards. It was not long before the series of screeching Star Wars sound effects commenced. I had on earplugs and headphones to protect me from permanent hearing loss. How could anyone possibly fall asleep during this? Cold air was blowing, the operator was giving me instructions to hold breath, release breath, keep stomach flat etc. and I was trying to carve off space in the machine for my crushed little breasts. How would anyone with a C cup or larger even fit in this thing? I really focused and did my best not to hyperventilate to the pulse of the machine. Compliments started to flow over the speakers as the images they were getting were perfect. The least I could do. Can you imagine missing out on a treatment or option just because you couldnt manage the claustrophobia and PTSD triggers caused by the noises and discomfort of this machine? It was an exercise in mind over matter. I was determined to show off and flaunt my artery, no matter what its state. After we were done, Giselle and I enjoyed a lovely 10 year Anniversary dinner at Milestones on behalf of Vij and I. Rather fitting as no one has supported our marriage and the birth of both our kids more than Giselle. Raise a glass to our marriage counselor, friend and wedded bliss champion!! Funny, and so true. I had better go primp for the new doctors now. Please wish us much love & luck. xoxo Christy Giselle Delmas Eryn Corriveau Vij Singh
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 14:58:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015