Today, we are on our three-month checkup at M. D. Anderson. Two days and about a dozen appointments to get through.
We drove over from Austin last night, after my evening class in a newly renovated Mall the school bought when it went bust. We made the trip in just 2.5 hours. Not bad, but we did not stop for anything. After a decent night's sleep we started our adventure back at M. D. Anderson.
The theory of this trip is for everyone involved to see what they can do to "reconstruct" things. Like pull out excess tissue from the "packing" (their term for the chunk of my leg they stole to fill in things) around where my left eye used to be. We will also see about an artificial eye, and whatever else they come up with. Oh, yeah! And we are doing a test to make sure the cancer is still gone. That happens tomorrow.
Today started off on a not so great note.
I have a sore on the side of my nose, and the plastic surgeon was "concerned" by the fact that it had not healed in a reasonable amount of time. Dr. Scholl, back in Austin, is thinking it is simply because of all the radiation I have had in that area, but we will get it biopsied here to make sure. In any case, Dr. Yu, the plastic Surgeon, said they would not do anything to my face until we took care of that sore.
His assistant also told us that is was the dental folks who put in artificial eyes. Huh? That does not sound right, but we will see. She also mentioned a "stick on eye". That does not sound so great either. What if you stick it in the wrong place. Boy will that look funny.
In any case, Dr. Yu is not the cancer specialist, and we will wait for Dr, Lai who is, to chime in on what is going on.
Cheryl's Fish
In the waiting area for the "Center for Reconstructive Surgery" there is one of the 60+ fish tanks in this place. The fish in this tank seem to love Cheryl. At least every time she walks up to that tank, they all zoom over to see her. (Of course, they hope she will feed them, life is tough for a fish stuck in a tank.) Cheryl walked up, just as usual, they all zoomed over, just as usual. That is until they figured out she did not have any food, then they drifted away. Still it was amusing to watch! And gave us something to do other than people watch.
Waiting for the next appointment
We stopped in the "Waterfall Café" to get more of a breakfast before my "Modified Barium Swallow Test" which is two hours away. That gives me time to write down a few things.
Wandering the Halls
It is a bit depressing being back here, even though they are working hard to save my life. There are two kinds of people filling up the halls and waiting rooms here: care givers, and patients. The care givers include hospital staff and families, and both are everywhere.
Then there are patients. There are two kinds of those as well. There are those who desperately want to see their cancer in remission, and there are those whose cancer is in remission and desperately want it to stay that way. Generally you can tell which is which. For those with active cancer, their treatments take a toll on them. You see them in wheel chairs, walkers, occasionally in a bed being wheeled between treatment centers. All kind of sad to see. But they are all fighting the same fight, and in their eyes, they seem to sense you are too. So it is kind of like a big family, so big you cannot remember their names.
The most bothering thing about being in this place, is that cancer is foremost in your mind from the moment you set foot in the place. And this place is huge. Every caregiver is focused on beating this demon down. Hopefully, they are succeeding!
The Barium Swallow
This test is kind of interesting. They make you swallow things with different consistencies, all laced with a barium solution that shows up on a scope of some kind. They can see the mechanics of your throat and that flap that keeps food out or your wind-pipe. That is really the focus of the test, since if the flap is not working, you tend to choke on what you swallow. Not good. The flap is affected by both chemo and radiation, and I have had a lot of both so far. Things are getting better, but the tests are to tell how much better.
The actual test was not that exciting. They started off with some thin liquid, had me swallow it, and through a reflection in a glass windows in front of a monitor, I was able to see what they were watching. Kinda weird watching things move, and the barium fluid did show up very well. I did fine with small sips, but not so fine with larger ones. They said I was having some "aspiration", fancy talk for fluid wandering down my windpipe. The problem with that is that you may not notice, but the fluid in your lungs can lead to pneumonia if you are not careful.
The tests moved up in thickness through a range where I am doing pretty well, and got to a paste-like consistency which they gave me on a cracker. I managed to get everything down, so I guess I "passed" the tests. The speech therapist who gave me the tests said I was doing about as well as could be expected, and suggested some exercises to keep the thin stuff out of my lungs. Basically, they want me to take small sips, then cough, then swallow a second time, which I think is what I do anyway!
Later, we met with another speech therapist, supposedly to see what they recorded. But all we did was go over the same things I had heard earlier. This time Cheryl got to hear them as well. So, the Barium Swallow Test was over with minimal fanfare! I think I like that, nothing to worry about!
Dental Oncology
Our next stop was Dental Oncology, where they did a quick look in my mouth, counted the few teeth that were still there, and told me to get those teeth cleaned when I get back to Austin. Another dull meeting, at least until we found out that these folks really do deal with the artificial eye stuff! The real doctor came in and looked me over, then said she would set up an appointment with the folks who build the replacement eyes. Once again, they were talking about an eye that stuck on top of the skin I have covering the place where my eye used to be. I know they did a lot of work in that area, removing cancer and bone, so maybe that is what I will have to live with. We will find out tomorrow.
Wrapping up Day 1
All in all, today was not so exciting, and did little to calm down any fears we were dealing with. We had no real tests and only addressed things that we would deal with after we figure out if the cancer is still gone. So, we headed back to the motel with mixed feelings.
That evening, we visited with Sharon and Dan Tonsing, who live in Houston and invited us over for dinner. Sharon went to high school with Cheryl back in Broken Bow, Nebraska, so they got caught up on all the goings on back home, while Dan and I played with their slightly timid dog. I usually manage to get along with most animals, and it took a little while before I succeeded with this one, but in the end I managed to be allowed to scratch her stomach!
After a nice visit, we drove back to our motel and got ready for day 2!
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