Another sigh of relief...
Well, today was the big results day and it was good!
We went into the city just before noon so that I could pick Wes up from Monarch. He left the semi at Monarch and we wriggled our way through the MANY construction delays throughout the city and arrived at HSC just before 1:00. Wes went to get his paperwork from Dr. Schroeder's office and off we went to the phlebotomy department to have his blood taken.
I was hoping that they would leave his right arm alone because it had a really bad mark and a bruise that had swelled quite badly from his MRI intravenous yesterday. Well, the nurse had taken one look at his arm and decided to leave that arm alone and take blood from the other...phew!
After four tubes were taken we took a walk down to the KFC that's down the block for a quick lunch since we had some time to waste before his doctor's appointment.
It was so beautiful outside and I think taking a walk helped to alleviate some of the anxiety of waiting, well, at least for me it did. Wes always seems relaxed.
We sat and talked about nothing, laughed over a few things and then slowly made our way back to the hospital an hour later. We still had another half our to kill so I asked Wes if we could go for coffee at the Tim's in the cafeteria. Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't really be having coffee, but a sour cream glazed doughnut just isn't the same without at least a small cup of Tim's and three creams (yes, I said THREE creams! Mmmm good!)
There was a young gentleman sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria softly strumming on his guitar and it was so relaxing. Conversations were floating all around us interrupted only once in a while with gentle bursts of laughter from a group of hospital workers.
A gentleman sat across from us completely involved in his Tom Clancy book, while a lady sat across the way intently texting to someone who made her smile. It was a peaceful place to be.
At 2 o'clock we made our way to the elevators for the ride back to the main floor and worked our way back to Cancer Care. Wes reported in to the receptionist and after filling out our regular form we sat down expecting a long wait. About ten minutes later we were called in.
Kim, our nurse, came to see us first. She has this beautiful blond hair and she was wearing a bright pink outfit that looked just wonderful on her. So I told her how wonderful she looked. Well, I was thinking it, so why not say it out loud? You can always tell when people don't hear it that often. She stammered a bit, thanked me and couldn't stop smiling after that.
After Kim did the preliminary questioning she left and we waited for Dr. Schroeder. A few minutes went by which Wes took advantage of by being a smart aleck (I know he does it to distract me and it works so it's all good) and I knew our laughter was probably being heard on the other side of the closed door, but who cares.
Dr. Schroeder walked in and well he was your typical specialist. Hair a little all over, jacket crooked, but oh it was so good to have a real doctor walk through that door!
He took two steps into the office and said, "The scan was good!"
We both sat and stared at him in silence. We had expected an introduction, a greeting, but not an instant diagnosis.
He stopped in his tracks and repeated himself. "The scan was good. I figure you'd want to hear that instead of 'So how are you? How was the ride in from Winkler?' and that kind of stuff."
We laughed. I will throw in here though that his language was about as colorful as you'd want to get. But, that's OK, he gave us the news we wanted to hear.
He explained that the grey area that they had found in the previous MRI had been nothing to worry about that it was simply dead tissue from the surgery. He flipped through the papers in Wes' chart.
"You have a T9 something something" he rattled it off so fast I couldn't remember all the numbers and letters.
"What does that mean?" I asked
"It means he has the one type of brain tumor that responds to chemo. They took the whole range of brain tumors and tested them all genetically and found that this is the only one that responds to chemo." he flipped the chart closed so fast I thought for a minute there we would be scrambling to pick everything up off the floor. But, obviously he had done it before because none of the papers even budged from their place in the folder. "No one knows why, but it does." he shrugged his shoulders, "But, that's a good thing for you!"
He opened the chart again and flipped through the papers and then quickly looked up at us.
"You have a great attitude and that's going to help you in the long run. It won't change the molecular structure of the tumor or change what that tumor is capable of doing, but I'll tell you what it will do. It will help you deal with the side effects." Again, the language was much more colorful. So, much so that it made me smile at him and it seemed that he liked being listened too so he continued. "You know I have guys walk in here and before I can even start working with them I know there is nothing I can do for them. They have already given up before we start and that's it! Not a thing I can do for them. But, you have a good attitude about this whole thing and that's going to go a long way for you. And the longer we can battle this thing effectively, well, that's great for you isn't it!"
I thought it was interesting that we had never met this man before in our life. We had barely spoken a few sentences to each other and yet he knew how we were handling this diagnosis. At least most of the time! But, I suspect they discuss us when we're not around, but, you know this is the first time that I am definitely OK with someone talking behind our backs especially if it comes across as a positive!
He jabbered on for another five minutes about the one other person he knew from Winkler who he had gone to school with and who we did happen to know. He talked about the fact that he had not been in Winkler for at least twenty five years and even then he had just driven past it on the highway so it wasn't like he had ever REALLY been to Winkler. He kept talking as he ushered us out the door and then said goodbye as he scooted down the hallway on to his next patient.
He is a bit of a whirlwind. I like him. And not just because of the good news, but because he will be honest, I can tell. Someone who keeps constant eye contact with you when he's talking to you and talks to you abruptly and without any hesitation usually isn't going to beat around the bush with what's coming around the corner.
So, that's two honest and direct doctors we have in our life...I'm happy with that!
"A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful. He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. " Proverbs 14:25-26
We went into the city just before noon so that I could pick Wes up from Monarch. He left the semi at Monarch and we wriggled our way through the MANY construction delays throughout the city and arrived at HSC just before 1:00. Wes went to get his paperwork from Dr. Schroeder's office and off we went to the phlebotomy department to have his blood taken.
I was hoping that they would leave his right arm alone because it had a really bad mark and a bruise that had swelled quite badly from his MRI intravenous yesterday. Well, the nurse had taken one look at his arm and decided to leave that arm alone and take blood from the other...phew!
After four tubes were taken we took a walk down to the KFC that's down the block for a quick lunch since we had some time to waste before his doctor's appointment.
It was so beautiful outside and I think taking a walk helped to alleviate some of the anxiety of waiting, well, at least for me it did. Wes always seems relaxed.
We sat and talked about nothing, laughed over a few things and then slowly made our way back to the hospital an hour later. We still had another half our to kill so I asked Wes if we could go for coffee at the Tim's in the cafeteria. Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't really be having coffee, but a sour cream glazed doughnut just isn't the same without at least a small cup of Tim's and three creams (yes, I said THREE creams! Mmmm good!)
There was a young gentleman sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria softly strumming on his guitar and it was so relaxing. Conversations were floating all around us interrupted only once in a while with gentle bursts of laughter from a group of hospital workers.
A gentleman sat across from us completely involved in his Tom Clancy book, while a lady sat across the way intently texting to someone who made her smile. It was a peaceful place to be.
At 2 o'clock we made our way to the elevators for the ride back to the main floor and worked our way back to Cancer Care. Wes reported in to the receptionist and after filling out our regular form we sat down expecting a long wait. About ten minutes later we were called in.
Kim, our nurse, came to see us first. She has this beautiful blond hair and she was wearing a bright pink outfit that looked just wonderful on her. So I told her how wonderful she looked. Well, I was thinking it, so why not say it out loud? You can always tell when people don't hear it that often. She stammered a bit, thanked me and couldn't stop smiling after that.
After Kim did the preliminary questioning she left and we waited for Dr. Schroeder. A few minutes went by which Wes took advantage of by being a smart aleck (I know he does it to distract me and it works so it's all good) and I knew our laughter was probably being heard on the other side of the closed door, but who cares.
Dr. Schroeder walked in and well he was your typical specialist. Hair a little all over, jacket crooked, but oh it was so good to have a real doctor walk through that door!
He took two steps into the office and said, "The scan was good!"
We both sat and stared at him in silence. We had expected an introduction, a greeting, but not an instant diagnosis.
He stopped in his tracks and repeated himself. "The scan was good. I figure you'd want to hear that instead of 'So how are you? How was the ride in from Winkler?' and that kind of stuff."
We laughed. I will throw in here though that his language was about as colorful as you'd want to get. But, that's OK, he gave us the news we wanted to hear.
He explained that the grey area that they had found in the previous MRI had been nothing to worry about that it was simply dead tissue from the surgery. He flipped through the papers in Wes' chart.
"You have a T9 something something" he rattled it off so fast I couldn't remember all the numbers and letters.
"What does that mean?" I asked
"It means he has the one type of brain tumor that responds to chemo. They took the whole range of brain tumors and tested them all genetically and found that this is the only one that responds to chemo." he flipped the chart closed so fast I thought for a minute there we would be scrambling to pick everything up off the floor. But, obviously he had done it before because none of the papers even budged from their place in the folder. "No one knows why, but it does." he shrugged his shoulders, "But, that's a good thing for you!"
He opened the chart again and flipped through the papers and then quickly looked up at us.
"You have a great attitude and that's going to help you in the long run. It won't change the molecular structure of the tumor or change what that tumor is capable of doing, but I'll tell you what it will do. It will help you deal with the side effects." Again, the language was much more colorful. So, much so that it made me smile at him and it seemed that he liked being listened too so he continued. "You know I have guys walk in here and before I can even start working with them I know there is nothing I can do for them. They have already given up before we start and that's it! Not a thing I can do for them. But, you have a good attitude about this whole thing and that's going to go a long way for you. And the longer we can battle this thing effectively, well, that's great for you isn't it!"
I thought it was interesting that we had never met this man before in our life. We had barely spoken a few sentences to each other and yet he knew how we were handling this diagnosis. At least most of the time! But, I suspect they discuss us when we're not around, but, you know this is the first time that I am definitely OK with someone talking behind our backs especially if it comes across as a positive!
He jabbered on for another five minutes about the one other person he knew from Winkler who he had gone to school with and who we did happen to know. He talked about the fact that he had not been in Winkler for at least twenty five years and even then he had just driven past it on the highway so it wasn't like he had ever REALLY been to Winkler. He kept talking as he ushered us out the door and then said goodbye as he scooted down the hallway on to his next patient.
He is a bit of a whirlwind. I like him. And not just because of the good news, but because he will be honest, I can tell. Someone who keeps constant eye contact with you when he's talking to you and talks to you abruptly and without any hesitation usually isn't going to beat around the bush with what's coming around the corner.
So, that's two honest and direct doctors we have in our life...I'm happy with that!
"A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful. He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. " Proverbs 14:25-26
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