Now that surgery is behind us (however, the incessant pain from said surgery continues to follow me with me wherever I go), it's time to move to the next phase of FBC (F-Bomb Breast Cancer) extermination: Chemotherapy.
One of the many challenges of navigating the health care world is that there are a trillion, no, make that a gazillion decisions to make, informed by millions of people with trillions of opinions. So much, coming from so many directions is really, really tough to manage, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Medicine is often equal parts science and art, which makes it an incredibly challenging universe to navigate. Add to that the personalities, experiences, training (and sometimes biases) of the health care team, the result is an incredible (often overwhelming) amount of data that needs to be analyzed by the patient and health care team.
While there are certain specific algorithmic treatment modalities for certain types of cancers and other diseases, many considerations go into coming up with an individual treatment plan.
The majority of the considerations come from the pathophysiology of the disease. Pathology reports are done both at the time of the original biopsy and (hopefully!) at the time of surgery (to ensure a corroborative diagnosis).
So, in preparing for our interviews with Oncologists (remember: patients hire their doctors), we came up with a list of questions prior to our discussion. By the way, it is always a good idea to have a list of questions when meeting with your physician (or any health care provider, for that matter). Why? Well, because the disease and its treatment make it all too easy to forget what you want to discuss when you are in the actual meeting.
Notice I said "we"...as a reminder it is always best to go to an appointment as important as this with someone. During the meeting, take boatloads of notes! Clearly I learned my lesson the first time, when I went to my diagnosis alone.
Now where was I? Oh, yes, my list of questions:
So, this week The Husband and I hit the open road of Oncology meetings. The fourth Oncologist with whom we met (and hired) had the following sign above his desk.
"Every Journey Brings Blessings" - Anonymous
What a SL way to start the chemotherapy journey. I appreciate and adore this phrase because it talks about every journey. All journeys. Which we are all on, by the way.
After several intelligent, kind, sensitive, patient, and personal dialogues with Oncologists, we have come up with a pretty solid plan. I will now answer the questions posed above:
My Oncologist told The Husband and me that we need to approach treatment as a long-term project. A marathon. This is an analogy that I can wrap my brain around because I love to run!
It is much better, he said, to wait long enough to start chemotherapy so that when I do start it, I'll be well enough to continue. He went on to say that staying on schedule is more important than starting earlier. Because I've had so many pain complications after my surgery, delaying chemotherapy until my mind and body are strong enough for round two of the FBC extermination makes the most sense.
Below is a Silver Lined quote that inspires and motivates me. Hope it does the same with you!
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill
Wishing you all a day overflowing with Silver Linings!
Next week, I will be talking about discussing chemotherapy with children.
To read more about Hollye's holistic and humorous journey over, around, above and below breast cancer, please visit her blog, Brookside Buzz (www.brooksidebuzz.com). You may email her at hollye@brooksidebuzz.com.
Follow Hollye Harrington Jacobs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hollyejacobs
Joseph Nowinski, Ph.D.: Rethinking Societal Attitudes About People Who Get Cancer
Hollye Harrington Jacobs: Breast Cancer Phase Two: Portacath Insertion
I was also advised to look at the entire process as a long term project, one day at a time. I am not a runner, but I love to walk. And I did, one step after another.
Best of luck to you!
http://graciouslivingdaybyday.com/
Mainstream cancer treatment is barbaric but necessary.
I'm working as a cooking instructor for the Cancer Project. They have a lot of good recipes on their site. http://cancerproject.org/
Looking forward to reading more about your healing process. Good luck to you!
Going on 4 years now, only natural methods plus changing my diet and checkup 2 weeks ago confirmed cancer free. I have not been back to my Onco since that discussion mentioned above.
My choice for my life. Everyone has to choose what is right for them and whatever method, traditional or non-traditional , they are comforatable with.
Chemo versus natural, in my opinion, is not determined by stage but by personal choice and what you believe. If someone is more comfortable with a doctor’s usual methods, then that’s fine, its their life and their choice; they are doing what they think best for them. It took months at first but I devoured every piece of information on herbs, foods, etc. (I bugged lots of people too who graciously shared their knowledge of herbs with me..in fact see other huffpo article on turmeric/curcimen-its one that I take) and now I am quite comfortable with my routine.
I feel that the medical profession is too stuck on slash (surgery), burn (radiation) and destroy (chemo) and as such are not open to other methods that are also proven but knocked by the medical profession. If you ask most cancer survivors about “surviving,” they will tell you that its not cancer they survived but rather the treatment.
I think outlook plays a big role too. From the day, I heard you have cancer, I said to myself that I would not be a cancer victim and be woe is me. And I haven't since that day 4 years ago :-)
I wish you the greatest success on your journey.
"Similarly expensive" . . .are you lucid?
Do you know why advanced biology students are given cats to dissect? Because they have similarities to humans, as do pigs.
So, I think you are quite wrong and not lucid.