2014 November 15 Tattoos and Bones

2014 November 15  Tattoos and Bones

Wednesday this week was Leland's first visit to the radiation oncologist, Dr. Schneider.  We checked in a few minutes early, and waited in a large glassed in waiting room with a gas fireplace, emitting welcome warmth in a huge glassed in room which was rather cold.  The HVAC system is mal-functioning.

We were first seen by friendly nurse named Sandy, attractive, wearing  immaculately pressed scrubs with a turtle neck underneath.  She proceeded to explain the process of a treatment; so we would be able to ask the Doctor better questions when he came in.  Undoubtedly this also saves a lot of the Doctor's time. She showed us MRI pictures of a hip joint and explained that radiation does not "pinpoint" a tiny area or single metastasis, but  a wider field, so will also cover any other mets which are small or not yet  visible. She also told us Leland would have to be "mapped" for his treatments, which consists of a CT scan with complicated measurements and calculations for exact placement of his body for each treatment, so the radiation goes to exactly the same spot each time. We had no idea what to expect, so her time with us was really helpful.

Dr. Schneider came in after Sandy left, and went over the MRI with us again, his assessment was for 5 treatments rather than just one or two, saying that one or two might do the job, but there was a chance it would then be have to done over, and he prefers not to do that.

 He also pointed out very clearly the abnormal area of the bone, and when I asked him for his opinion on the percentage of abnormality, he said "at least 80%".  He also said this cancer is in every bone of Leland's body, and this treatment is palliative, not curative. He told us that Pca bone mets are different than Breast Ca bone mets, in that Pca builds bone rather than just destroying it entirely, so the bones are stronger with Pca than Bca, and not quite as likely to break, that Leland can do anything he has the strength to do, as long as it does not hurt.  Since he only has about 10% of his BC (before cancer) strength, he is probably not in much danger of a break unless he has some sort of accident. At least not right now.

We both liked Dr. Schneider and feel we can trust his judgement, so Leland told him to go ahead and schedule the treatments.

On Thursday, we went back to the clinic for the mapping.  I was not able to go back with him for this but Leland told me he undressed, and they had him lie down on a very flat surface with a "bag" sort of material underneath him.  When the tech got him positioned as he wanted him, they placed three medical tattoos, on on each side and one in the middle of his pelvis.  These can be seen on X-ray  and aid in positioning.  The tech then inflated the bag around him, so it made a perfect mold of his lower body; it hardened rapidly, and will be used each time he has a treatment.  We were gone from home only a little over an hour including travel time.

Treatments will begin on Monday and end on Friday of next week, and will take from 2-6 weeks before being noticeably effective.

We are processing all of this, adjusting to reality as best we can and leaning on God for peace and strength.  Our days pass quickly, we are still unpacking, still dealing with unforeseen issues in this house and learning patience with the slow pace we have to proceed- at least part of the time.

We have a leak in the guest bathroom skylight, which the inspector we hired missed, so he is refunding the cost of the inspection.  We also had a leak in the water filtering system under the sink, which has ruined the kitchen floor, so all that has to be repaired.  Hopefully, that will be the end of these issues and we can turn our complete attention to getting settled and caring for Leland's needs.

Cherilyn, Todd, Mark, Tina, and Grant have been wonderful visiting and helping us out even with their busy schedules.  It is great to take only a few minutes to get to the doctor's office, and of course we love seeing more of Phoenix.  We really miss Del and Chuck being so close, and miss the home we left, but this is where we need to be.  We are grateful for the blessings we have even now.