Chemo update

I had a talk with Dr. Grossmann yesterday. He is the medical oncologist that will be managing my chemo, if I decide to go that way. He pointed out something that I missed before. That is that the sample sent to the pathology lab showed that the tumor had extended to the edge of the tissue that was surgically removed. In other words, this means that there is some chance that there might still be some cancer remaining. Therefore it seemed prudent to consider chemo again.

He told me that he had treated more than 100 patients in the last 3 plus years, and that a very few had hearing problems as a result of the treatment. Moreover, he will make sure that I get a hearing test before the third treatment, to make sure that everything is OK before continuing.

I feel good about that idea, and have decided to do the chemo. It will be once per week and will start this Friday at 8:00 am.

The radiation is set for Thursday at 2:15, and will continue for the next 32 days thereafter, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays excepted. The time of treatment will vary depending when the machine will available and other factors.

If you have questions, feel free to post them, or e-mail me. I will try to answer anything that comes my way.

By the way, I learned that they have a different way of measuring severity of a cancer, depending on what type of cancer we are dealing with. For example, in lung cancer, the size appears to be a point of interest (small cell, non-small non-cell). In my type of cancer (mucoepidermoid carcinoma), the grade is of interest (low, medium, high). Mine is a high grade, meaning that it multiplies rapidly (as we learned at the beginning of this experience).

The stage is of interest in most cancers; they said that this is a stage 4a. I guess that is better than a 4b or a 4c.

I feel that we are taking all the right steps in dealing with this. Your support is felt and appreciated.