We met Dr. Clark. He is the radiation oncologist. He was very kind and patient with us. He did another exam...which was quite painful for Steve. He said radiation will be 6 weeks, not 7. He said the tumor is 7-8 cm, not 2-3. He feels like there's a 75% chance chemo and radiation will cure Steve. (Without surgery) He thinks we should meet with a genetic counselor. We made an appt for June 15th.
After that appt, we had "chemo class" with Jayme in Dr Chipman's office. It was about 40 min of information that took an hour and 40 minutes. By the time we left, Steve was REALLY hurting. We learned a lot about the side effects he's likely going to experience, and it's a LONG list. It's a bit overwhelming. We have several prescriptions to pick up and a list of over the counter meds we need to have on hand as well.
Tomorrow at 7am is the portacath insertion, then at 9:30 he has a special CT scan and radiation prep (they'll mark him). Chemo starts at noon on Monday in Provo, then radiation at 3:30 in American Fork.
Steve is sad tonight because he wanted to enjoy this week, but he's been hurting so much...he hasn't been able to do much.
I am sad because I don't want to watch him suffer any more. It's so hard. But we need to fight together....and we will....starting tomorrow. Tonight we are sad.
1 comment:
Joy, I'm so grateful for this blog. I'm so grateful for the updates. I think about you so often. I mean really... I will think to myself randomly during the day - I wonder how they are doing, I wonder if they've gotten more news, or I wonder how Steve is feeling right now and how Joy is holding up. I appreciate you taking the time to write it all out and let us know. You are both in our prayers, several times a day. Tomorrow I will call a few temples. Every week I will call a few temples, varying which ones each week - that way you both will be on a few temple prayer rolls every day through the entire ordeal. I'm sad too. I love you.
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