Technically, they call it Day 8 because they count from the first day of chemo. But today was mom’s second treatment day, another long (9:30 AM to 5:30 PM) day of pre-hydration, gemzar, cisplatin, post-hydration and electrolytes. In between, I did some light housekeeping, laundry, and some grocery shopping. We got home and I raced […]
It’s perhaps one of the most delicate issues when you’re seriously ill — how to graciously accept the flood of concern and help from friends and family, while not allowing yourself to be smothered by it. My mother’s phone rings all day. Her next door neighbor calls multiple times a day and if my mother
Managing the Well-Wishers Read More »
For all the advances in cancer care over the last several decades (not the least of which is in the field of genomics), most of the time we are still reduced to three choices: poison, knives or radiation. You either kill it, cut it or burn it. Cisplatin, which is one of the drugs my
Arrived at the infusion center this morning at 9 AM. I got up at 6 AM to do some yoga, which I’ve found extremely helpful physically and mentally. The infusion center is at the doctor’s office. It’s an open room with nine reclining chairs, so you hear the side conversations of everyone around you. The
We had our appointment with the oncologist today, in preparation for mom’s start of chemotherapy on Monday. Her bone scan looks good. There was something suspicious in her chest CT, but he said he was not worried about it. My mom’s had a couple very rough days, feeling very uncomfortable with her distended abdomen. He
We had an early morning, leaving the house at 6:30 AM to wind our way through SF’s dark, wet streets to UCSF’s Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center. Today was the last (we hope) in a series of tests to confirm the diagnosis to ensure the chemotherapy plan is on target. It was a CT-guided biopsy
I have spent copious amounts of time over the last couple weeks online scouring information about urothelial (transitional) cell carcinoma. I am grateful that at least I know where to look and can quickly sift the bullshit (flaxseed oil + cottage cheese as a treatment for malignant bladder cancer!) from the science. I search every
The Median is not the Message Read More »
We met with the uro-oncologist (a specialist in cancers of the urinary tract) at UCSF today. Both she and her fellow were very patient and compassionate, and were very detailed in their information. She explained the current planned treatment protocol for chemotherapy. She is very familiar with the oncologist that my mother knows in Napa
Bad news from our last visit to the urologist at UCSF. After almost a full day of lab and radiological tests, we learned that the cancer has metasticized, which means it has spread. Her doctor, a surgeon, referred us to a urologist-oncologist (a urologist with a specialty in cancer). Our appointment — after I called
It has been a long and emotionally exhausting day. For the last two weeks, when we learned of my mother’s kidney cancer (urethelial transitional carcinoma, typically associated with bladder cancer) both my mother and I have worked hard to be strong for the other. But this morning as she was prepped for surgery, the veneer