A HUGE Change In Plans...

I received a call from MD Anderson yesterday with biopsy results showing that the two lymph nodes close to the liver are showing they have cancer cells (which we already knew). So, they cancelled starting a new chemo regimen today (Wednesday) and want me to come down for a radiation consult next Friday afternoon. Pat, Jenn, and I will fly down there Friday morning, have an IV put into me at 1 (for IV Contrast), then at 3, I will have a CT scan with contrast to see exactly where the tumor/nodules are and where the radiation needs to be positioned for the best coverage. We want to irradicate the two nodules plus hopefully put my tumor in the liver asleep for as long as possible! We will also meet with Dr. Daas, who is the interventional radiologist. He will fill us in on "The Plan" and side effects, etc.  We will fly home Friday at 8 p.m. and that's it for a week.

Then, the weekend before April 23, I will drive to Texas and start photon therapy radiation (also known as IMRT). I think we went from proton therapy to photon therapy due to the lymph nodes testing positive for cancer cells. We need more than a pencil beam at this point that would have went straight into the liver. We now need it to hit the liver AND the nodules that are cancerous.

I will be in Texas for 28 treatments, 5 days a week, for 5 1/2 weeks ...that is also only if all goes perfect and no interuptions in radiation happen due to side effects, etc. I am now trying to find extended stay lodging, hopefully close to MD Anderson. Cheap it will not be! The one I really want is $2295 per month. They do include all things an apartment would need...pots, pans, linens, tv, pool, shuttle service to MD Anderson, gated security.

I, of course, am thinking more about events I will miss back here....Jenn graduating from EIU, Walk N' Roll (for the second year in a row), my nieces wedding, my two grandaughters growing....and me missing it. Yes, hopefully this will lenthen my life so I will see them longer in my lifetime....it is just hard.

So, I ask for prayers asking for strength, encouragement, good health during this treatment plan. Easter is a sign for living, so I ask that you pray I have a long life to live ahead of me. Pray that the doctors have great knowledge of where to point that radiation to effectively kill those daggone monsters growing around my liver....and to kill the cells in my tumor also...or to just make it sleep for years.....thats a far reach but God has great plans for me so I am not going anywhere!!

HUGS & PRAYERS
Patty~