Wait & Glide

Daren & I went to Seattle to meet with doctors at Virginia Mason last Thursday & Friday. The first (and at this point most important meeting) was with Dr. David Aboulafia, who is a hematologist and oncologist. I was referred to him due to my hemophilia.

I was encouraged after seeing Dr. A. He still doesn’t have enough info to tell me whether the cancer is confined to my bladder; has spread to other tissues from there, or, started somewhere else & ended up there.

He has ordered more diagnostic tests, including a CT Scan, including my head; a P.E.T (positron emission tomography) Scan; and a colonoscopy. The whole idea is to figure out the scope of the cancer. If it is localized in my bladder, that is better than if it has spread from there, or started somewhere else (e.g., colon, lungs, brain) and ended up in my bladder.

Indications so far, are that it’s localized in by bladder, but the results of the CT Scan, PET Scan and colonoscopy will guide further decisions. Those tests are scheduled for next Thursday & Friday, 10/2 & 3. They will also be double checking the pathology report prepared by doctor(s) in Olympia and confirming their prior interpretations.

So what’s the encouraging part? Dr. A said that the type of cancer that I seem to have (small cell cancer which is often seen in lung cancer patients) is very responsive to chemotherapy.

Regardless of whether the cancer I have is localized in my bladder, spread from there to other tissues, or started somewhere else … the likely first step of treatment will be chemotherapy to kill as many of the crappy little buggers as possible before figuring out what is next.

I should know results of the CT & PET scans by next Thursday, so I’ll let you all know.

I still feel pretty well physically and emotionally. This news is more ‘wait & see”. It seems like I do have some time (based on info from Dr. A) to complete the necessary test & get a second opinion.

I’ve never been one to try alternative medicine … herbology, chiropractic, acupuncture, etc.. At this point, I’m ready to try them as long as it doesn’t conflict with my normal metabolism & prescribed approach. A couple of friends practice “healing touch” which has to do with energy fields … I’ll look into it.