Thursday brought a new day and a new appointment--a CT scan of my chest to see if it spread anywhere else. I had a gut feeling it had. And....my gut was right. They found four tiny nodules on my lungs as well. So the cancer spread from my colon to my liver and lungs. Okay. I figured. You see, once you get the news that I received when I first found out I most likely had cancer (HOW I received it would be more accurate wording here) anything after that was like,"Okay."
Friday was another small surgery day--port placement for chemo that they wanted me to start ASAP. I met an "IV slut" that day. My hubby mentioned to the nurse that I called myself a "vein whore" the other day and she responded, "well that's perfect cuz I'm an IV slut." Hahaha! YES! This nurse looooooves veins. Love them. She told me, "Oh! You do have nice ones!" And then I just talked about how she probably checks eeeeverybody's arms and veins out whenever she's in public and what not. Yup. She does. She loved Steve's sexy, vein-y arms--alot....as do I. ;) All good fun before this next thing on the checklist was completed.
I met a new oncologist later that Friday afternoon. All I can say is....NEXT. I think we were 5 minutes into the conversation when I checked out (aka stopped listening). After her 17th "sympathy look" accompanied by a head nod, I was done. I knew she wasn't going to be a part of my team already. I'm glad the other two were still listening! I heard bits and pieces--the ones that jumped out at me.
After all was said and done she looked at me and asked, "Do you have any questions?" "Yeah...what do I need to do to get my info to Mayo?" And that was that. Next.
Well, it was Labor Day weekend so Monday the offices were closed. I needed to find an oncologist I trusted and liked--so I obviously looked elsewhere at another clinic since the first one struck out twice with me. My favorite doctor in the entire world ( ;) ) asked me if I'd like her to send a referral elsewhere, so she did on that Tuesday. That office called me that day and got me in right away that early afternoon--great sign already. I met with the third oncologist now....and let me just say....we liked him. ALOT. He was very matter of fact but not in a cold hearted way like the first one. He didn't give me 'sympathy looks' and didn't focus on 'incurable' like the others. Yes, I know stage IV= no cure....but he didn't focus on that, which was a breath of fresh air.
I think the most respectful part is he was all for thinking that a bigger research facility would be in my best interest-- I will say, the first two oncologists completely made it sound like a second opinion from elsewhere wouldn't matter, I could but 'eh' you're a goner anyways so just enjoy your time.' That's exactly how they both came across. This Dr. ENCOURAGED it. The first facility that came out of his mouth was," MD Anderson." I looked at him, "Well I'm happy to hear you say that because I actually just scheduled an appt. with them earlier this morning--we fly out there next week for an appt on Wednesday." "Perfect."
The next thing to come? Monday was my phone call with a holistic doctor. I knew from the start--when I got my diagnosis--I needed to make some drastic changes in my diet. It's funny because about 1-2 weeks prior to my diagnosis I told Steve that we needed to make changes to our diets--cut out sugar, processed junk, etc. and that I would do it little by little for the family. Well...that Thursday changed everything for me. I cut it out completely. So, just a heads up, if you noticed that I've dropped some weight in a short period of time, don't be alarmed. It's because I've completely changed my diet. And when you cut out all that bad crud, the weight is just going to fall off. I just don't want people to worry that it's cancer eating away at me or something. So that's my little disclaimer. You're welcome. ;)
So that being said...I'm also teaming up with a holistic dr. I LOVED him. A lot. Incredibly knowledgeable, super friendly, welcomed my whole list of questions like it was no big deal--we talked for over an hour and I learned SO much in that time. He also did say he was okay with doing chemo at this point since it has spread to other organs and it's not contained in one place anymore--it always feels good to be validated on your decisions so I was thankful to hear that. He then gave me his cell phone # so I could keep him updated on what went on in Houston, when I'm starting, and he would be with me every step of the way in this. Love that. So thankful for all the great resources I was given! My team is coming together.
Let me talk about this diet just a bit. My. Oh. My. Raw (or lightly steamed) veggies and juicing. My poor husband had to hear me "ugh...ugh...ugh" already because it's pretty much all I've been eating for the past few weeks. But...he's been amazing in all of this so far. Making sure I'm eating, cutting up veggies and making them for me, getting into juicing because it's going to help me. He's been amazing...love that man.
But all in all, I feel like my best bet is to prepare my body for basically an all out war. And I feel that diet is going to play a huuuuge role (if not the most important role) in this battle. I have to tackle this thing from all sides that I possibly can. This way, I know I'm doing everything I possibly can to try to control this disease. I realize I won't "beat" it and that I would live with it (like a chronic disease)...but I pray I get to this point of maintenance.
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