Hat Trick Day

Since he had three appointments in one day we are calling this our Hat Trick day. It was so painful just getting him in the van.  I was so happy to discover the valet parking service in St. George. I snagged a wheel chair so he didn't have to try to walk which is extremely painful.  Two of the doctor appointments were with a cancer surgeon and a vascular surgeon.  Both of them said, "no" to surgery.  I guess that is good.  Here are their explanations:

Cancer at Roland's stage with Chemo, Radiation, and Surgery has shown the same results as Chemo and Radiation without surgery, so why cut on him?

We thought the painful DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) in his left leg could possibly be cured with surgery to remove the clots, but the vascular doctor said he has seen this kind of thing before and better results have come from just playing the waiting game (two to three weeks!) while taking blood thinners (now with increased frequency).  He said it would be even more painful to have the surgery and could result in further damage and clotting.  That was convincing enough for Roland who is nauseous from the pain when he has to walk even with crutches and pain medicine.  He is wearing a compression stocking in a lovely tan color the length of his whole leg.

Then we got painfully back in the van and to the radiation doctor.  He explained the side effects we can expect.  I cried.  Roland had a "whatever it takes" attitude.  Tomorrow we will do radiation simulation therapy where they map out and mark his body so the radiation can be directed to exactly where it is needed  (lung tumor and lymph nodes) and not to where it is not needed (heart, spine, esophagus).

It is looking like the road map is Chemo and Radiation together, but it might have to wait until the DVT is reduced. Tomorrow we will meet with the oncologist again and we hope she will give us an idea of when this will all start.

I think he needs stronger medicine, but he rationalizes that it is only painful when he has to move around.  Hmmmm?

I asked him what he wanted to do tonight to distract him from the pain and I suggested Scrabble, or a movie at home or something like that.  He said, "What I really want to do is help the substitute by finishing making a quiz for my students to take tomorrow and correcting papers."  Wow, we really think differently. That's OK.  I am comforted that he won't be teaching tomorrow.

My favorite part of today was washing his hair, bedside this morning and massaging his feet while waiting for doctors.  I think he was happiest during those two times of the day.