Hello, all. This is Cathy. I can't tell you how overwhelmed I am by all of the love sent my way. Many days I am unable to talk to anyone on the phone. In the early days, I was spending upwards of 6 hour per day on phone calls, and receiving messages on voice mail at the same time. It was really hard for me to dwell for so long on me and my problems. My family finally took over, and I no longer answer the phone. They monitor phone calls, take messages, or let voice mail answer if they can't handle it anymore. I hop nobody is offended by this, but it is so emotionally draining, we just can't deal somedays.
While in hospital, Dr Bailey gave me morphine every night to make sure I got a pain-free full night's sleep. Although I appreciated this, I also knew I would not be taking pain medication when I got home. I've learned what causes my pain and what I can do about it. Occasionally, I've been forced to take Tylenol extra strength, but I try to avoid it.
Yesterday, I returned to the Cross Cancer to meet with the doctor who will be in charge of my care. His name is Dr Sayer, and he's a very odd duck, but very smart, so I can deal with everything else. He believes I have choangiocarcinoma, which is cancer of the bile ducts of the liver, meaning we can stop looking for the primary outside of the liver. Apparently I have classic symptoms if you know what they are. They cause problems with clots, and they cause higher calcium and Parathyroid hormone levels, all of which I have. He says that I have been accidentally diagnosed very early, so now he's uncertain how to treat me. The outcome is still the same. It is not curable. Usually by the time a person has been diagnosed, they have football sized tumors. At the moment I have golf balls. If he treats me too early, he could actually do more harm by depriving me of life-lengthening treatment later on. He's going to wait and do a CT Scan on Sept 29, then I'll see him again on Oct 8th. He may start me on PRUNK chemo then, and wait to treat me with cholangiocarcinoma chemo later. I go next Tuesday for chemotherapy classes. I have been told I will lose my hair with the first round.
Dr Sayer has encouraged me to get active, and encouraged me to go back to work, even if I can't do a whole day. He told me that I can set up my Wii Fit that I bought just before all of the chaos. So this weekend, I intend to get my husband to set it up for me.
In the meantime, positive thoughts, everybody!! It ain't over until it's over, and I'm not giving up yet!!