Okay, I'm sorry. I know we had a good thing going here. Great Chemistry. I dropped the ball. I've got a real problem with commitment. It's not you...it's me. My last blog was October 5th! There is no excuse. I should have called...
Actually, my chemo (that ended on December 2nd-2 days before the opening of the new cancer center) was very uneventful. I assume you all understood that no news is good news, but I left you hangin' and that wasn't nice. I got through the treatments with most of my hair and a couple extra chins. I am not sorry I am done with getting 3 litres of fluid dumped into my abdomen every 3 weeks but in a weird way, not going every week for the Taxol has been a bit of a transition. You see, the people at the U of I cancer center are really amazing people. I miss seeing them regularly.
My new routine is a continuation of a drug I started with chemo last August. Avastin is the name of the drug and it locates any cancer cells and cuts off the blood supply to them. The study I'm on is trying to get Avastin approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer. (It already has the stamp for colon and a couple of other cancers.) I go every 3 weeks for an infusion that is supposed to last 30 minutes, but I usually end up being there all morning. This I will do until August...a year in total. The only really unfortunate side-effect is joint pain. Yep, I now know what it feels like to be my 100 year old grandmother. And things are slow to heal, so for the last 6 weeks I have had a pain in my throat (not like a typical sore throat, but lower) and I will be getting that checked out next week for a possible ulcer. Nice, huh. I'll keep you posted...pinkie promise.
I leave you with an observation I've made about this whole experience...(James, "girlie parts" allert.) Male gynecological oncologists should be homely. I'll explain.
At the University of Iowa you have a doctor. With the hospital being a teaching one, they are assigned various levels of "help". My doctor has a few, what they call, Fellows that work with her. My favorite is Matt Carlson. He assisted on my surgery and lets face it, when someone has looked around your insides, it bonds you. Well, Matt ( While attractive, is more like my much younger brother...I digress) must have been in another surgery at the time of my appointment because they announce to me that another Fellow is going to see me that day. Okay, I kid you not, the door opens and in walks the most attractive person I've seen in in probably my entire life. (Sorry, Mark, but you were there, it's true.) To top that, his name is, Dr. Sean Michelle Stephan. Yes, he's french, complete with accent and everything. I actually think I heard violins, accordians and smelled a fresh baking baguette. Seriously. Well, we chat for a moment, and then it occurs to me what he is actually there for...a medical exam. I am not a person easily embarrassed, but atractive people should not be allowed to examine your Hoo Ha. I know I was the only one who was being anything other than professional, but no joke...awkward! That's when I closed my eyes, and immediately imagined I was cleaning the cat litter box until it was over.
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