Doctor Visit Today

My doctor really thinks more chemo is a bad idea. She won't prescribe it. However she then backed off a bit and said she'd talk to my mayo onc -- because though what he offers me is a gut, I want to have the benefit of his gut, you know? She doesn't want me stuck in the middle, which I appreciate, and if I decide I really want the stuff she says she's sure there are people in the area who would do it and that she will help me find one. So my job remains, to investigate it thoroughly and see what I want to do. The points she brought up is that the additional chemo is risky. Neutropenia I bet I can defeat (low white count -- sometimes febrile -- sometmes puts people in the hospital. My doc says she's had people die of it -- but I'm sure I wouldn't be one of them.) The other is leukemia, probably from the meds used to counteract the risk of neutropenia. That's a longer term risk. So the thing is if the anti cancer meds cause other cancers -- the risks need to be weighed. Also she thinks that slower growing hormone positive cancers often don't respond that great to chemo, and respond better to endocrine therapy, which would be delayed for this experiment with chemo.

So ..... while I prefer to make the choice myself, she IS looking out for me. And it is true what she says that "the chances are I've licked this thing." In other words, chances are better than 50% I won't have a recurrence or metastases. Not much better, but better. WHich means that the OTHER doctor's point is also well taken that there is a high risk that I will have a metastasis. Tough choice. I mean I'd love to be done with chemo, but only if it's the best thing to do.

Meanwhile in smaller news I have to keep the drain in at least one more day. I'm also leading the bikeride tomorrow -- which is perhaps the only activity that really gets my wiggles out without rubbing against the darned drain -- so that's good. It will be my first official babe ride, and longest, since the surgery. (I've biked to G-town and back twice -- that's 24 miles total, in 4 trips of 6, on fat tires. Tomorrow it's 32 on the fast bike, hopefully returning with warm bread in my backpack.)

After my visit to the doctors this AM i went up to see Barb. YOu'd think she'd be lonely but I think she's had people there every week so far since our chemos were done ...... Nancy got there before me today, in a sassy red wig! I will post some pix of them sometime -- though I didn't have my camara today, so no red wig pix -- yet. Speaking for myself, I don't visit Barb because I think she needs company -- but so I can have hers! She's a lot of things, but her positivity is the most surprising, because it shows up about the most unlikely things. I thought I was positive, but Barbara is truly the sunny side queen.