VISIT WITH DR. FOX IN PHILLY
THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
Well we had the appt. with Dr. Kevin Fox at the Breast Care Center at the Univ. of Pennsylvania today and I think Bob and I agree that it was well worth the visit. After going through my whole history, from 2007 on, with a young doctor, she briefed Dr. Fox on any missing pieces or discrepancies. He had my whole file complete with "flow chart" which had been faxed to him by Dr. Peroutka's office as well as the scans from all my MRI's, Cat scans, etc., etc. By this point there were quite a few.
Then he went over my whole history in pretty great detail explaining what he felt were the reasons for some of the "incidents" (severe bone pain, return of some bone pain, nausea) and explained how they could be treated. Four of my big questions were:
* Where did that severe bone pain come from so suddenly?
ANSWER: Most likely from a fracture of my pelvic bone area.
Apparently I am very susceptible to such fractures and need to
be aware of that. In fact, I am experiencing some pretty
serious bone pain again but this time higher on my spinal column - cause?
Probably same reason. Remedy? Go back on the Oxycodone IR or
Oxycontin ER - with severe pain I should not try to fight it.
* Why the nausea - what could have caused that?
ANSWER: Yes, Radiation can cause nausea and probably did.
Dexamethasone can help, and as I found out, indeed it does (thank you
for the suggestion Theo! :>)
* Should we stick to the same chemo that I started with?
ANSWER: NO. It would be best to try the TAXOL-type chemo I
had with my first bout of breast cancer but in a reconfigured form
for more serious cancers. The rest of the "cocktail" can stay the same:
Kytril & Decadron, and Navelbine.
* Where does the blood go if my hemoglobin levels are low but nothing
shows up in stool samples, etc.?
ANSWER: My body just isn't making enough because of the disease.
We had ruled out any GI-type problems by blood tests and stool samples.
** AND NOW THE $64,000 QUESTION:
WHAT IS THE PROGNOSIS FOR THIS TYPE OF CANCER?
ANSWER: If you took all of the people with serious cancers (stage 4) and
averaged their lifespan from onset of the cancer you would come up with
a figure around three years. HOWEVER, within that group you will also
find some who go on for years with no recurrence, or you find some whose
bodies don't respond to the various chemos/radiation and they die within a
few months. The discrepancy can be that large. It is simply a "crap shoot,"
as is walking out your door and getting hit by a car. The important markers
will be the scans and MRI's that will need to be done every 3 or 4 months.
So - drumroll please - everyone on this list will be beholden to pray to Mecca,
God, Buddha, or any of the hundreds of other dieties out there. Me,
I'm a nature girl with some spiritual sidelines so I'll probably be sitting
by my spring pond thinking good, uplifting thoughts.
THE OTHER ASPECT OF MY CARE...
After several conversations with my dear, dear step-daughter-in-law, Theo, out in Hood River, Oregon, I had some concerns about the type of care I was receiving from my present Oncology practice and I posed a couple of questions to Dr. Fox concerning "assigned' nurse practitioners, centralized co-ordinated information which the nurse in some practices manages and their other duties.
His comments regarding these issues were that it does not always run as smoothly as it might appear. And, in fact, he felt that I would most likely be receiving more individualized care at Andrews & Patel than I would in a larger practice. Because of his honesty throughout our appt., I appreciated his candor. I have been making as optimal a use of Dr. Peroutka's set-up as I could have been. This is an entirely different type of cancer than my first go-around and I need to be much more pro-active - i.e. ask questions, seek out the nurse to do some of the things that they do in the large practices AND I want to include some of the more "alternative" procedures such as acupuncture or Reiki or a naturpath - things that will treat my whole body and soul. In fact, in the case of Hershey Breast Care Center in particular (which Dr. Fox is familiar with), although he stated that they are "good people," his belief seems to remain firm that you get more individualized care at a smaller practice.
So, after I have had a chance to digest all of this and speak with Dr. Peroutka (my next appt. with her is this Friday) I think I will "clear the air" a bit with respect to the chemo, who to turn to for help when I need it, and our need to keep an open line of communication, which I really can't fault her for. Don't know when my chemo will start but I suspect that it will be soon - maybe as early as next week. Once again - stay tuned.
RAINY WEEK-END FIRE
Birds of a feather (look closely - it's there :>)
VISIT TO DR. FOX IN PHILLY

