Oh come ON!! You guys, the Howe’s need a break. Last week I finally went in to get an MRI done. It was a long journey as my oncologist said the fastest way to get a scan is to go the ER. Not the most comfortable place when you’re having pretty bad back pain.
But we finally got the MRI (of course not before hearing a guy on a real bad drug trip moaning and taking off his pants). I was rolled away to the sounds of “put your pants back on, sir”. ahhhh…the drama of emergency room.
Anyway, the MRI came back with bad news. I have two tumors that are dangerous close to my spinal cord. They are specifically at the T3 & T4 vetebra and the T9&T10. SO we have yet another plan that now involves radiation. I’ll start 10 to 14 rounds of radiation so we can shrink or eradicate those tumors. It should hopefully help my back pain as well (which has not really eased up much). I had my first treatment yesterday (yeah, they rushed it) and it was fine. Unfortunately about 5 or 6 treatments in I’ll get a burn on my esophagus (they are going through the front for the T3&4 areas) which will make my throat very sore and it will be hard to eat. I’ll get a numbing medicine that can coat my throat long enough to eat. But I’ll probably be drinking a lot smoothies and eating ice cream. Just like if I had my tonsils out! 😉 I have radiation every day for the 10 days and it takes about 10 minutes.
The other crappy thing is this means yet MORE delays in my chemo. I can’t have chemo and radiation at the same time. So I expected to start Gemzar (or as Kevin G. calls it, Gemzar and the Holograms) by 11/6. I’m just scared to go that long without chemo. I get nervous about my liver and if the tumors are having a big party and growing larger as we sit here with chemo. But it is what it is, so I have to make my peace with it.
I’ll keep ya’ll updated, but I wanted to make sure my extended team knew the latest. Sending love to you all! xo