The Introduction

This blog will be used to provide updates on our upcoming battle. I say "our" because it is something that Chris is not going through alone. One of the things that I've learned over the past few days while trying to find as much information as I could is that there is, literally, too much out there and a lot of it is difficult to read, so that will continue. I was particularly touched by the people who took the time to write about what they were going through as it is straight from the heart and is not distorted by statistics, opinions or speculation. I have chosen to share our battle (well my writing at this point but we'll see about getting Chris involved when he's ready) so that our friends and family can stay up to date and to also make sure that everyone knows exactly what's happening.

The outpouring of support from family and friends has really been incredible and has deeply touched us all. It's not always easy to convey thoughts and feelings verbally or otherwise so even if you have not said anything, that's perfectly fine too! We all deal with adversity in a variety of ways, and we will both meet it head on and will be prepared to handle whatever is thrown our way.

So, that being said, this week will bring us two MRI's that will be used as a baseline for his upcoming treatment.

Next week Chris will receive a pump that will be inserted in his chest just under the skin. The pump is the preferred method of administering chemotherapy these days because it has the least risk of infection and also preserves the veins. It can also be used to draw blood which is critical before treatments are given.

Chemotherapy will be administered in the doctor's office. When we were there on Friday and the doctor mentioned the pump she asked Chris if he would like to talk to another patient who was in a treatment room and to see the pump, he declined.

I will talk to the doctor's office tomorrow to get his appointment scheduled for the pump. She mentioned a slew of different doctor's that do this thing and when she asked if I had a preference (mind you I did not know most of them) I said, the one who has the most empathy because Chris is finally facing his fear of needles so anyone who won't mind my holding his hand is the right one. She said that one of the doctor's was not the most empathetic but he was the one who did the biopsy on the tumor behind Chris's ear so I think we'll use him. There's a big benefit to having a lot of tests done at the same place or by the same doctor.

I was impressed with the doctor we saw the other day for several reasons, but one of the most important was that when I asked her to explain what a marker on the cytology report meant because it was negative, she picked up the phone and called the pathologist who did the actual test. I know what I know and more importantly I know what I don't know, so for the doctor to just go straight to the source was terrific. I'm not sure what she was thinking when I mentioned that I knew what the first three markers meant (it took a lot of digging and then verifying the sources of those web sites and medical journals before I was sure that what I read was accurate), but I'm pretty sure she knows she's dealing with someone who did as much homework as she could (no comments from the family on why I hated it when I was in school) and was prepared to ask the relevant questions.

I had thought about an email list, but then when I got a few more brain cells involved I decided this would be more efficient (not to mention that I might leave someone off) and would also allow those who come by to comment if they are so inclined and to not have to worry about deleting it.

More tomorrow. Love and hugs to all.
~Stacy

PS The post is signed GiGi because I used her email address when I created this blog. They seem to like gmail addresses.