Monday, November 21, 2022

I had my appointment at our local Cancer Clinic this morning and learned a lot about the process ahead of me. There are a lot of variables but they will be answered in the coming weeks. The doctor I saw today isn’t a dedicated oncologist (we don’t have one in Powell River) but she has been managing the Clinic here for a long time. She went over my pathology report and we know more about what was said in it and why we are where we are today.

Ever the optimist, I expected to be told I’d be on a pill form of chemo and that would be the end of it. Sadly that won’t be the case. I will require chemo for probably 3-4 months (one of those things we don’t have an answer for) and there is the possibility of radiation treatment at the end of the chemo. I was unprepared for this information, although I knew it was a possibility.

But to get this all started she has referred me to the Cancer Clinic in Vancouver but warned me I might wait as long as six weeks for an appointment. The Vancouver clinic will determine the mix of chemo that is recommended and pass that information back to the doctor in our local Cancer Clinic (it will be our “old” family doctor that carries out the IV prescriptions). In the meantime I’ll have a full body CT scan, an echocardiogram and a bone scan. With the exception of the bone scan everything will be done in Powell River; the bone scan will be in Comox. She expects these will all be done by the time I see the Vancouver Cancer Clinic so there will be no delay in starting treatments after they get the prescribe course of meds.

The doctor says I should keep myself busy doing the things I’m interested in. Although there were a lot of things I could (and probably should) be doing I’ve spent a lot of my day with my Diamond Dots. Yesterday I started walking on the treadmill as the weather doesn’t really cooperate with a walk on the track. I’m doing a mile and a half which is about six laps around the track. It feels good to be walking and the treadmill doesn’t hurt me at all but it isn’t as pleasant as a walk in the fresh air.

We made a couple of stops on the way home this morning. We got several Christmas packages in the mail and I picked up a new book at the library. Between finishing up my Christmas parcels, reading, walking and a few stitch-related projects my days will be full.