Tuesday, May 8, 2007

We went to see the oncologist this morning who was impressed how well I was doing and that I was ahead of the "normal person" in my recovery. Everything looked good and I have gained weight. After talking about that he asked me if I wanted to get the feeding tube out...well yes! So I have the OK from him! He has changed how long to from the 8 we thought to 10 to 12 weeks post radiation completion; so...we are looking at the end of June now for the PET/CT scan. It's rough to have to wait so long but he feels more comfortable with that and that even at 8 weeks we could get a false positive. We discussed recurrence and what to do to help prevent it...a lot of vegetables and fruits. We also talked about the frequency of testing and what type; he wants a PET/CT every three months for the first year...that works for me! It will be 5 years of no cancer before we can officially say I am cured.

After we left RMCC we headed downstairs to get some blood taken and then went back up one floor to the gastro's office to schedule the removal of the feeding tube. We had to wait a little while as she was with a patient but it was worth the wait, when she was done she told the receptionist to have me fill out paperwork and that she would remove it today! So we did the paperwork and hung out until our turn. She had me lay down on the table and told me it would be a quick sharp sting and that was all; she had me take a deep breath, let it out and she just pull it out real quick...it made a pop when it came out! That simple! Talk about some normalcy, I have had that tube hanging out my stomach since January, it is so nice to have it out! It was really nice to give Andrea a good hug without that tube being in the way.

Tomorrow we are going to go stop by the Littleton RMCC to see the folks there and then stop by the office to see the gang and talk to the boss about returning to work.