We have an oncologist sighting!

Today, I had my fourth session of chemo and I got a nice surprise- my oncologist visited me for the very first time since I started treatment. And it only took him 4 sessions! He came by to say hello to see how I was doing. Prior to that, he had never visited me before. Even my nephrologist (who has nothing to do with my treatment except to ensure my kidney was holding up okay during treatment) came by on my first day of chemo to say hello. I guess I shouldn't be mad or too concerned...it's not like they pay him to be my best friend and to make me feel warm and fuzzy. Everyone has asked me if I have a good oncologist. I'm really not sure what that means. My chemo is pretty standard so I'm not sure what having a "good" doctor means. They also say if I don't like my oncologist, they can refer me to someone better-- whether here at Kaiser or at a different hospital like Stanford. We actually discussed this in my support group this past week-- the difference with having a good doctor and a bad doctor. Two of my support group members said they had terrible experiences with their oncologists but I think it had more to do with their "bedside manners" as they were looking for more for the warm and fuzzy, the "give me a hug and let me know that everything's okay" and "treat me like I'm an individual and not a number on a chart" and I get where they are coming from but I'm really not concerned whether my doctor asks me how I'm feeling (although he did asked me that today) and does a lot of hand holding. I just need him to give me the facts, give me the right diagnosis, and make sure my treatment is effective. It's the nurses that administer the chemo treatment based on my doctor's recommendation so as long as he's got that right and can put my cancer in remission, that's fine with me if he doesn't come to visit me or that it's only been the fourth tine I've seen him since my initial visit with him. I think he's an okay oncologist. We're not going to shoot the breeze together or have a drink post chemo (once everything is in remission should everything go well) but that's okay with me. As long as I'm in remission I'm good with that. The one thing that I give him a lot of credit for is that he's very responsive. Every time, I email him with any questions, he gets back to me the same day and that's all I can really ask for and what's important to me-- someone who's very responsive. That being said, it was good to see his boyish grin (he's in his mid-40s) pop in and say hi.

I asked him a few questions about my PET scan that is scheduled for November 6 and what the expectations were. He said that his expectation is that the lymphoma will be gone and there won't be any traces in the pet scan. The two remaining chemo treatments will be to kill off everything that may have not shown up on the scan. However, that's the best case scenario. If there are still traces, that's fine too as the two remaining sessions will be to wipe off everything else. However, if they see that the tumor has not shrunk and is still there, then we'll have a discussion about perhaps pursuing other treatment options that are more aggressive. You mean to tell me there are more worse treatment options than chemotherapy?? So, I asked him does it appear that it's going well and of course, being the way he is, he hedged his answer and said that it seems I am responding well to treatment but we won't know until the scan and we'll go from there. I guess all I can do is think and stay positive and hope for good news on November 9 when I see him to go over my test results.

Other than the nice surprise visit from my oncologist, everything went well today. I got the same nurse (again) (the one that spilled my ratuxin) and she was jamming. I asked her if we could slow my IV drip down as perhaps that's what caused my nausea the last time as she had me done at 2pm. She didn't think it was from the IV drip going so fast so instead of slowing it down, she got me out at 1:45pm (this after me showing up 30 minutes late this morning). Man--  this woman works fast!! Fortunately though, I didn't have symptoms of nausea, at least not as much as last time. I had the usual foggy head feeling but that's par for the course on chemo days. I took a nap once I got home and now I'm feeling a little refreshed. I still have the foggy head feeling but the minor nausea feeling is gone. I'm planning to go for my daily walk after dinner today with a few friends as I missed doing it this morning and as I think it'll be good for me to get the exercise in and get some fresh air. And..uh..truthfully, it's because I have a FitBit work week challenge and I was the leader but am now 15,000 steps behind everyone!

The other interesting update this past week is that earlier in the week, I had my nephrostomy tube exchange. This is something I do every six weeks to prevent infection of my kidney from the catheter. It's pretty routine- I get admitted into the hospital, get changed into my hospital garb and then I hang out for about two hours in the bed to wait for my minor surgery procedure. The whole procedure is fairly quick-- about 15 minutes-- and they discharge me an hour after that. It's my second exchange and it also appears to be my last. As my last chemo session is Friday, December 4 (yeah!), they (and me) are assuming I'll be all done with treatment after that; therefore, we've scheduled December 15 for the tube removal. Imagine that, less than two months from now, I won't have a hole in my kidney anymore and can actually take a real shower again...and, hopefully if all goes well, I'll also be in remission!!!



My friend Brian with me at my nephrostomy tube exchange. Since they won't
let me drive home as I get sedated, he was my designated driver. Thx Brian!