Tuesday Marti and I flew to Duke for 2 days of meetings with doctors, nurses and other support staff. The trip was uneventful except for the landing in Raleigh. It was perfect on the 2nd try.
Wednesday morning we met with Dr. Sumrall and Dr. Reardon. They were very encouraging regarding long term prospects and laid out 3 options for treatment. They also stressed how important the successful brain surgery was, the fact that I am in relatively good shape and actually my age was a positive. Of the 3 options the one we are leaning towards would involve some potion of the treatment being done at Duke. Any treatment we ultimately decide on will involve 33 radiation treatments and a daily chemo pill, Temodar. We had hoped to have made the treatment decision today but we are waiting on blood test results from Duke which we should have by Monday we think.
On Thursday we met with Dr. Reardon's Nurse Clinician who passed on information relative to potential side effects as well as what to expect with weekly blood counts. She also left us with a binder full of stuff to read.
After the nurse, a social worker came in. She was very nice and said I see where you wanted to speak with a social worker. We answered that we had not made this request which made this a very short meeting.
After returning the rental car we jumped on the shuttle bus to take us to the airport and a car promptly smashed into the side of our bus. No one was hurt but really, what next?
The bottomline is I am 2 weeks removed from surgery. I feel great. I ran 5 miles this morning. Every doctor that has looked at the pre and post MRI says that Dr. Pitmann did great job. I have treatment options that I am excited about and really want to get this started. Once I know exactly what the treatment plan will be I will pass it on.
Until then have a great weekend.
Thanks for caring.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteMom forwarded me the link to the blog, it's been awesome following it. My favorite part is probably reading each entry in the voice of the person who wrote it....it makes things that much more entertaining. (Here's looking at you, Sam.)
Glad everything's going well and things are looking up for you, and I hope things continue to do so. You're a very strong man with a strong and loving family, and I know that if anyone can accomplish what you're trying to, you can. I look forward to reading more about your progress!
Love,
Sam Pollom....*DOH*
(read: Joey Weaver)
Hi Bill
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. All good news again. Fantastic! I'm sorry to learn about the bus accident and the plane landing escapade. Whew! Wonderful news that you ran 5 miles. Guess I better get started. Where ARE those early morning rains? Have a good week-end.
Glad you are feeling well. We are having a great trip. I hope the pictures I have been sending are making it through to the frame. See you next weekend!
ReplyDelete