OK, I will admit that I’ve dropped the ball for a little bit
on the reporting front. I have reasons,
but voicing (typing) them just makes them excuses, so I will simply say “Mea
culpa” instead.
Of course a lot has happened since the last post, and all of
it for the better where Deb is concerned.
She’s been back to see Dr. Paige (the surgeon) who is pleased with her
progress with healing. Even though the
navel is still a bit ‘angry’, he was able to clean it up a little during the
office visit and Deb is continuing to care for it at home, so it looks like no
further surgery will be required there.
It also appears that her incisions are healing up nicely as far as he is
concerned. There will be one more visit
with him before we move back East, followed by the final (I hope) touch-up
procedure that we’ve penciled in for the March timeframe back here in Seattle.
Deb has also visited our GP for her annual physical (all
good there) and had a cardiac ultrasound to make certain that the Herceptin
isn’t having ill effects on her heart.
The results of that test were also good, so that’s one less worry right
now.
We are currently (as I type this) sitting in the infusion
center where Deb is receiving her first post-surgery dose of Herceptin. That would normally be done every three weeks
(until the end of March), but the last one was skipped since it was during her
initial recovery period after the surgery.
Before we came into the infusion center we saw Dr. Ahmed (the oncologist)
who was effusive over Deb’s progress. I
am really happy to see her so pleased. I
think she’s already checked the “Success!” box.
Our next challenge will be finding an oncologist for Deb to
transition over to in the Knoxville area.
We’ve had a few recommendations from friends in the area, so it’s really
just a matter of Deb completing her research and making a decision. I think she’s close. In fact, she’s on the phone with a friend
(and fellow cancer patient) right now – RIGHT NOW! – and he apparently is
seeing the frontrunner in the oncologist race.
It may be that the decision was just made. We’ll see.
On my own side of things I did have to go back to my
dermatologist last week to have the margins cleaned up on that small skin
cancer she removed back in late September.
I now have a nice 1-1/2 inch scar on my forearm. And Deb is no longer the only cancer patient
in our house. Let’s hope that’s the last
of that, though. Neither one of us wants either of us to have to deal with
cancer any more. Ever. Ever!
YOU HEAR ME CANCER?!? EVER!!!
Anyway, Deb returns to work next week though she still has
another two weeks after that before she’s allowed to fly anywhere. Sometime in
the next several weeks we will put our house on the market (anybody need a good
house in North Seattle?) once we decide between the two
relocation-company-approved realtors. Then we’ll go to Knoxville for a
house-hunting trip. We’ve already got
our Knoxville realtor looking into potential places for us. Busy, busy, busy.
The point is, this may be the last post for a little
while. I might have something to say if
we get her in with an oncologist in Knoxville, but otherwise I won’t likely
pick things up again until the touch-up appointment in March. Thanks for keeping Deb in your thoughts over
the last 10 months or so. I really do appreciate it.
So until next time (whenever that is) …
