Tuesday....Afternoon......July 24th

Today we met with the nurse practitioner who coordinates the chemo department for the oncologist in the clinic......what was to be a 45 minute meeting actually took 2 and a half hours....the contents were quite detailed....

It looks like from now on they are where Linda goes for help..including the cough....blood pressure issues etc. Linda did get medication though this morning from the previous doctor...and it should help. She also was told today to cut her blood pressure medications in half again as it will lower on its own as she goes through this process...which it already has been doing....and that has been part of the problem.

Today we learned.....

The tumor board will meet in the morning and go over Linda's case...it is quite the affair with all kinds of doctors involved and her tests will all be shown to everyone...what a gift this is...everyone involved to double check things to make sure the direction is correct.

Linda meets for 2 hours tomorrow with the radiation people..which is in the hospital..the result of the tumor board will be known by then and shared with us. I understand they will be calibrating her for the radiation and determining the start time of the entire process...which could be another week to two weeks..

Once Linda begins radiation..it continues daily for 30 to 35 days..not counting weekends..it takes 15 minutes per treatment.

On the same start day she will begin chemotherapy..there are two drugs involved which are given intravenously....there are two cycles initially...the first is starting at the same time as the radiology and continues for 6 days ...not counting the weekend..then there is about three weeks of radiology only and then the second cycle of six days of chemo continues.

One of the drugs is given on the first and sixth day of each cycle..it is the nastier of the two...the other is given all six days...the first and 6th days are much longer for the chemo as she has to be hydrated because of the first drug.

A concern is that the initial drug can affect kidneys and hearing..many of you know Linda has had kidney problems due to vioxx which is now off the market...although her kidney function is rated good now...also she is deaf in the left ear and losing mid range sounds in her right ear...so they might change the above chemicals initially or monitor things and change mid stream if they have to...we shall know soon.

Even while she is off the chemo she is tested by the chemo folks as the effects on the blood and..and are pretty severe..sometimes things have to stop because the body can't take it...then it starts again.

Linda then is given 2-4 weeks off at the end of the radiology and chemo and then she goes on 3 to 4 cycles of a different chemo which is given once every three weeks...some can tolerate three ..others four....

Yes..she will lose some or all of her hair...yes ..she could have several different nasty side effects...but we were told to remember..everyone is different. What the nurse said is critical about this is that the symptoms are ones she has had and dealt with separately in her life...and she can again...

And we were clearly told......diet is critical......attitude is critical..and exercise is critical...and Linda is committed to all three.....we will visit a dietitian at the hospital this week or next to assist her.

We were also told to ignore other people's stories..I forgot what she called them..Linda might remember..the essence is that everyone does it differently..and stories do not help.

We were also told to treat a lot of the reading material we received today with a grain of salt..as every one's experience is different.

What was most comforting was the statement that said clearly by the nurse .....that they were there because of Linda and Linda was to contact them at any time with any problem and they would respond (most critical patients first within the day).....she was not to hold off until things got bad.

That's about what I remember...reality was fully present today...since we determined that Linda was going to survive..we eased back a bit...today the reality of what she is set to go through was frightening.....but again..she is determined..to be mentally well...dietarily strong and bodily fit through exercise.

I am committed too..and will share my IPOD with her for the treatments as well as my BOSE headphones....(what a guy!).

Dave