Processing... Processing...
I met with my oncologist for the first time this morning. He was kind, patient and took plenty of time with us. What I hadn't counted on was an hour's worth of waiting and/or lab tests & insurance info.
(BTW: Radiation is usually given for 30+ sessions. That's a "treatment." Even with our relatively good insurance coverage, do you know that EVERY one of those office visits counts separately and has its own co-pay? If the disease or the cure don't get you, the insurance companies will. )
DH and I were there from 10:40 to almost 2 pm.... The MD said I was in the "gray area" as far as recommended treatment(s). He seemed to be in favor of chemo and radiation and pills although he also said that to do "nothing more" would not be a "wrong" decision...
Even with his statistics (and DH's explanations), I don't know how to connect "the improved odds" of agressive treatment with the stress, expense, inconvenience, and supposed 10% change in likelihood of a cancer recurrence. I don't know what other questions to ask.
He gave me (along with a prescription for a wig) lots of information to read, which I confess I haven't yet digested. Looks like I have homework.
6 comments:
one thing at a time, one thing at a time. positive thinking coming your way, dearie.
Dear Painterwoman, I have no experience with anything you're going through but I sincerely wish you the best for any further treatment!
I am ripping back - literally! - too. Read about it tomorrow. Knitting is not my friend right now. Thanks for the compliment on the socks!
You'll get through all the reading. There are tons of support groups out there, maybe a friend to help you sort through some of this?
I work at a cancer center in Boston. We have this: http://www.dfci.org/pat/support/one_default.asp
You may be able to access it without being a patient here.
Wow, talk about a tough place! If the odds were larger, the choice would certainly be easier. Weigh things carefully and believe in yourself. Whatever choices you make will be the right ones for you. My thoughts and prayers continue to come your way.
I came over to your blog after you left such a nice comment on a drawing in mine and this is the first post I saw.
One of my sister-in-laws just finished a completely successful battle against breast cancer earlier this year. It was rough but she took it one day at a time and made it through with grace. She had chemo and radiation (and a small surgery).
I am sending good thoughts and healing energy your way.
Painterwoman, you won't believe this but I am currently being coached by an Eric Maisel coach in training! I also trained for a while to be a creativity coach (not with Eric Maisel, though) and then realized I didn't want to coach artists. I wanted to be one!
I have absolute confidence that you will fully recover and have many years of art ahead of you. When my sister-in-law first was diagnosed my mom and I had a conversation about all the people we knew who had breast cancer (it was close to ten) and all of them had made full recoveries.
Anyway, to answer your question from my blog, EDM stands for Everyday Matters. It's a weblog by Danny Gregory (http://www.dannygregory.com/weblog). And there is a yahoo discussion group that posts a topic each week to inspire drawing (it has to be an everday sort of thing). The discussion group is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/everydaymatters/
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