This Week. . .
This week has been a long one- and it’s only Thursday. Let’s recap:
Monday
I had an ultrasound on my thyroid. Similar to a barber shave, I had towels placed on my shoulders and chest. Dissimilar to a shave I had a bunch of clear jelly spread on my neck while I laid back in a dimly lit room as the tech guided the handheld checkout scanner over my neck. Odd sensations aside, I have a real talent for drifting off to sleep in medical settings now. Thanks cancer! My results came back in about an hour and as suspected the nodules in my thyroid appear to be cancerous as well. I could have a biopsy to determine for sure however it would not change my treatment plan so why get poked with another needle if it won’t matter?
So after my results I took my now shiny, but jelly-less neck, on the road to Ohio for a work trip. Perrysburg, Ohio to be exact. A 5 hour drive to my destination wasn’t as bad as I thought- getting to see the majestic flat lands of the Midwest, littered with cows, horses, and religious abortion-shaming billboards is a dream vacation. What can I tell you about Ohio? Nothing really. I was in and out but aside from my destination and a few dozen fast food places there wasn’t much.
Tuesday
After a work meeting I was immediately on the road. Sorry Ohio but it was my birthday and I wanted to get home. But another really cool state had other plans- Indiana had a freeway shut down for something, probably an accident, maybe because they don’t like me. After 20 minutes or so sitting at a dead stop in traffic and cursing out the vehicles on the shoulder I basically pulled a Dom Turretto and made a u-turn on the freeway.
After safely performing my stunt driving I made it home 4 hours later. After dinner and some non-stop refreshing of MyChart I was in bed at 9ish- because I’m 38 now and that’s the responsible thing to do.
Wednesday
Again, the constant refresh of MyChart starts my day. If there were stat lines for usage of medical apps I would have a triple double- no assists- everyday. After not so casually messaging my care team just about everyday I had an update- treatment would finally, probably start next week- we think. And my daily pill was almost approved. But first rejected. Idk. A confusing day to say the least. Again I rank the worst parts of cancer to be:
The waiting
The mental torment
The actual cancer
BUT I know my medical team is not to blame but rather the cool American Healthcare System!
Thursday
Finally! No it is not Friday like I thought it was all morning but rather I have actual appointments and confirmations. A week from today they’re going to inject me with Opdivo:
My daily Cabo pill was approved too! That will come through the mail as long as the USPS doesn’t drop the ball there. This time next week I’ll be vaccinated, infusinated, and Cabo-nated. (All real words). Oh I’ll also be immunocompromised with probably some of those cool side effects I shared in my last post. Will this be my superhero origin story? I’m starting to think it won’t unless fatigued white hair guy is my superpower.
What’s Friday have in store? Who knows- could be an uneventful day or I could find out that my cancer has cancer or something cool. Until my brain scan on Monday I am going to take it easy and hope that only extreme intelligence is revealed on the scan.
Reminder you can always support Gilda’s Club in one of the two ways below:
-Joe
I do think the aim is to have you fall asleep during ultrasounds. Why else do they turn the lights down and try to make you so comfortable? 🤣