First radiologist visit this morning, 4/23/10

Good morning. It is Friday morning, April 23rd, and I met with the radiologist for the first time this morning. Her name is Dr. Ballenger, and Mama and I liked her a lot. She told us what her plan was, and what she thought Dr. White's (the oncologist) plan will be. (I meet with Dr. White for the first time next Monday, the 26th):

Dr. Ballenger said that she is expecting Dr. White to treat me with three different drugs every three weeks for approximately four months. At that time, the plan is for me to go down to one drug and start radiation. The radiation will be Monday thru Friday, but I forgot how long she said it would last as far as weeks. I'll have to ask Mama about that. Of course, the time frames might vary some depending on how well I tolerate the treatments, and how my blood counts are. There was a lot more discussed this morning, but most of it is speculative until I meet with Dr. White and get the facts. What I know right now for sure is that radiation will not start for approximately four months. Even though I am anxious to get started with everything, I was also scared of starting too soon before my incision could completely heal.

I will post another update on Monday after seeing the oncologist. I also have an appointment after that to see my personal physician. Hopefully, by Monday, I'll have more solid facts and timeframes. Today was more of a meet & greet, question & answer session more than anything.

My arm is doing a little better. It's improving in tiny increments, but I have noticed that I have more incentive to move around now. I finally got the initiative to sit down, balance my checkbook, and pay my bills. I'm taking advantage of this time and getting some continuing education done as well. I'm able to help earn my keep a little more now at Mama's and Daddy's. My sister has asked me how long I'm going to milk this before I'm able to help with the dishes again..........

After my appointments on Monday, I plan to go by the office and meet with my supervisor and bosslady. The two patients that I am working with right now are extremely easy cases, and my patients' parents and coworkers have told me to come back when I was ready, and they will help me with what I am not able to do yet. I work with a great group of people, and I am very appreciative of how they are working with me on this.

I am at my townhouse in Greenville (Winterville) at the moment. Mama had to run to Sam's for a few minutes. I don't know when I'll be coming back to stay here. I'm in no hurry, and Mama and Daddy are enjoying having me around. I guess it will depend on when I go back to work, which is hopefully soon. I need to get a little normalcy back into my life. Please continue to pray for us. We still have a long road ahead of us, and, I have to admit, that came as a huge reality check to us this morning. The surgery is really only the beginning. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who is praying, calling, sending cards, cooking.........it is helping so very much. Please continue to do so. As you can imagine, whatever makes this a little easier on my family makes it a lot easier on me. They are being strong and faithful, but we are only human. They say God doesn't give you more than you can handle. He must really trust me is all I have to say! But He is a good God, and I still say that He is faithful. I don't know why this has happened, but I know there's a reason.

Some of you have commented about how often you are coming to this site and checking for updates. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will see a block that says "subscribe". If you click on that box, you will automatically be notified when I post an update. My next one should be Monday afternoon.

Thank you again,
Cindy