Our dear friend made an appointment with an additional oncologist for us, so that we could get a second opinion. Someone on my medical team called a little bit ago to find out why there’s a stray oncologist on the list, and so I explained the situation. Apparently her expertise may be helpful down the road since she is a radiological oncologist (not sure if I have that title quite right), so maybe I will reschedule that appointment. She’s the sort of oncologist who determines radiation stuff. We’re not there.

The logistics of things is a bit tricky. I am a healthy person and don’t usually have to think about medical professionals much. So this recent influx of people in lab coats has been pretty intense. One challenging aspect is that all of them are at least an hour away, so a simple procedure or office visit takes a big chunk out of a day.

I have that Mennonite “getterdone” drive, so even though I feel like I’m not getting anything done, I am actually *working* on my health – and that is accomplishment enough right now.

It will take some time to get the results of the MRI back, so that will take much of next week. My medical team would like to surgically place the port and the marker the week of Feb 13th and begin chemo that week. Chemo would either be once a week or once every 21 days, depending on the advice of the oncologist. I was surprised that we could actually be rolling that fast.

I am considering my options.

Every time I get a call where they tell me what they expect me to do, I remind them that I am considering my options. I don’t want chemo, I don’t want radiation. I do want the surgery, but even that – the phrase I have heard that resonates so much with me is “cancer is not an event, it’s a journey”. I like journeys where I get to hold hands with my Austrian and watch the dog with her nose in the wind. I love sunsets. I love watching birds.

I have not been sleeping well, and there are a lot of decisions to be made. But for right now, it can all wait.