We arrived to the appointment on time. Arri was happy to be in the car and just as
happy to arrive at the oncology office. His
lamb toy from months ago had been washed and was waiting for him in the
reception area. The first step was for
the tech to take him in back and give him a once over. I got the impression she was going to do
blood work. This was a different tech
than the one that called so I don’t think she had yet realized chemo wasn’t
going to happen. I pointed out the lump
in his tush so they could check it. To
the back he went for vitals check etc.
He returned to a patient room with Dr. Obradovich. She confirmed the mass she found was the same
one I found. We discussed the growth of
the tumor and lack of effectiveness for the chemo. There are other chemo drugs but the
Carboplatin is supposed to be the most effective. Since it was not effective on Arri, it is
very unlikely that another drug would work.
Back to the treatment area he goes to have the two lumps aspirated. When Arri returns, I learn that both lumps
are lipomas – fatty tumors. Nothing to
be concerned about.
On to the serious discussion. What is next?
I have 3 options.
One; stop
treatments and let the cancer grow unchecked.
At some point the cancer will affect a major body system and he will
die.
Two: try metronomic chemotherapy. This one has come up before. It is a daily at home pill, low dose
chemo. I think this might be the first
time I learned or it sank in, how it is different from regular chemo. Regular chemo attacked the cancer
itself. If I understand correctly,
metronomic attacks the blood supply to the tumors. How it does not attack the blood supply in
the whole body is a mystery to me. The
same way aspirin knows to take care of the pain in your back and midol is for
cramps. Just how does the medicine know
to go where it is supposed to?
Three: amputation.
This is the best and final treatment option at this point. Even though it has been floating around in
the back of my head for 4 months, it now has to be seriously considered. All other methods have been ineffective. All Drs and techs involved think Arri would
adjust just fine. It will be much harder
on me than on him. Dr Obradovich would
do hip x-rays before continuing forward to ensure Arri could tolerate being a
tripod. I authorize the x-rays to be
done right then. Might as well get it
over with. While I am pretty sure his
hips are fine, no point in struggling over a decision that becomes a non-option
if his hips are bad.
When the tech brings Arri back from x-rays, she tells me
they weren’t quite sure how that (getting x-rays) was going to go. They are well aware that Arri is a dork. They needed to put him up on the table and
have him lay still on his back. They
didn’t sedate him at all. If I had known
that ahead of time, I would have wished them luck. Arri doesn’t mind being on his back and
getting a belly rub but up on a table is different from a soft, comfy sofa, the
floor or a bed. They were very pleased
when they got him in position, he just relaxed and stayed in place. Both Dr Obradovich and Dr Walshaw (surgeon)
reviewed the x-rays and declared him good to go. Now, I just have to decide what to do.
We leave the appointment with an estimate for surgery
costs and two weeks worth of metronomic chemotherapy drugs and anti-inflammatory. Arri still has to have a good blood test
before he can start the chemo but I will have them when I need them. If we don’t use them, I can return them and
be refunded for the cost. Tim was not at
the appointment so deciding about surgery has to wait. On the drive home, I call Dr Mike to make an
appointment for a blood test next week.
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