A full day of traveling

So I had a very busy day Monday. At 7am I went to Los Angeles to see Dr. Brien, who did not think the tumors were big enough to remove surgically, but he would have to see the actual CD of the scan and not just the report.

I drove to Newport Beach to make a 11:30 appointment with Dr. Brien's sister, Heather, a Vascular Surgeon. I did all of my labs and X-rays and EKG to get the port-a-cath installed on Monday.

Next, I drove back to Santa Monica because I wanted that CD of the CAT scan to bring with me. I talked to Dr. Chawla's office and they told me that I was being considered for a clinical trial instead of the AIM protocol. Good news for me! Two days a week instead of five for chemo.

I drove to Dr. Jacoub's office and showed him the scan, he also agreed the tumors were too small to remove surgically, but he told me not to get the port and to wait a couple months to see if they grew. I was stunned. I talked to Mary Ann and she told me that if she was diagnosed with cancer, she would pick Dr. Fink to care for her. If her children were diagnosed with cancer, she would pick Dr. Fink...I slept on it and decided that it was Dr. Fink that managed my care the last time, and the person I trusted, Mary Ann, was in her own way, telling me to go back to Dr. Fink.

So now I am armed with a CD of my body. It is awesome. If I can find a way to upload it for you I will! It shows my body, slice by slice, like they cut me like a spiral ham, starting at my shoulders, so I can roll the bar on the mouse and scroll through my body and even to my naked eye, with no training, found those tumors. They are small, which makes me happy. I wonder how fast it would take for them to grow. The last time, it grew fast! From a walnut to a mango size in just 8 weeks.

So with the worst week I can imagine, I wanted something to behold that was glorious and pure and beautiful...I was granted my wish. My sister Debbie texted me at 3:00am in the morning she said Isiah Anthony had arrived. Hayley had her little baby boy. And they invited me to come to the hospital to see him...so I was like the first! I needed a beautiful, delightful sight to behold and there he was, all new and fresh and perfect and his mommy, all flushed and relieved. Then there was daddy, overwhelmed and words eluded him this fine moment...the baby boy took his breath away, I'm sure. And Debbie...the proudest grandma. I was honored to be allowed to share this moment in their lives, and thankful for having a moment of joy to concentrate on.