Sunday, February 24, 2013

mapping



on tuesday, we're scheduled to spend 1/2 the day down at massey for 'mapping.'

so far, we know it will involve cat scans and tiny tattoos for marking the target, where the radioactive field will 'hit.'

more sci fi adventures await.

we were given a couple 'very solid' options for radiation treatment.

but i told the godfather, you know how we're always a few years behind the times.  

he said yeah.  so?

(we're not so behind the times that we bury ca$h in the backyard though)

i said well how do we know choosing this kind of radiation is not like walking into a phone store, and selecting the flip phone, when there's tons of 'smarter options?'

when we met with cal, our radiation oncologist, he explained, in pretty great detail, what our options were.

and it was up to us to decide.

we were positively flummoxed.  we said how are we supposed to know what the best option is?

and he, along with his team said this.

the best option for you is the one that helps you sleep at night.

there are no bad options.

flashback to monty.

mr. hustle.  mr. let's make a deal.

ok.  

maybe there are no bad options.  

but aren't some options better than others?

the 'tried and true' (flip phone?) option is the external beam, 6 weeks, 5 days a week.  on the 6th week, that will be a 'boost' week, where the radiation beams will be more localized to the internal cavity where the cancer formerly resided.


if this sounds like a grind, it's bc it is.  but so are plenty of other worthwhile endeavors.  

the other newer fangled option requires another surgical procedure, involving implantation of a series of catheters, a kind of cross section of porcupine quills going in, through, and out the other side of the breast.

they said you'll feel like a porcupine for a week.

but only a week.  

(smart phone?)

the idea here, is once the catheters are inserted, you go twice daily for that week, each time receiving high levels of radiation, directly to target.   though not area surrounding target.  so partial breast, not full.

you're instructed to stay away from babies, and pregnant women, so i understand, bc you're considered radioactive.

this is strange.

as our daughters say, 'is this real life?'

this sounds pretty do-able though.

spit spot.  one week.

see ya later alligator.

i was initially 100% sign me up for that.

as was the godfather, we had some things on our calendars, this would free us up to do.  

no 6 week ball and chain.

fuh.  getta.  bout. it.

hooray!

but. 

 what we learned was those porcupine quills would only kill the potentially rogue and remaining cancer cells in the very cavity that finally produced those clear margins.

no where else in the breast.

which is good.  though maybe not?

if there were a rogue cell, perhaps elsewhere in the breast, undetectable at this juncture, due to limitations of imaging, combined with known 'dense breast tissue,' then the porcupine option wouldn't reach it.

but.  perhaps it's not even there.

but what if it is?

but likely it's not.

one week.

let's go to hawaii!

but do i want to be laying on the beach, wondering about some holdout cell?

no.

6 weeks.

well.  

flip phone.

smart phone.

i'd just like it clear.  no static on the line please.

xx katy








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virginia, United States