Cancer Center Visit

We met with Dr. Bryan yesterday at the Cancer Center. Super nice guy! Everyone there was sooo nice and made you feel welcome. They made us feel as though they were so happy to see us. Dr. Bryan explained to us how the radiation works. And I tell ya, Technology is amazing. They take Harold's PRE-Op MRI and the CT scan that he had today and overlay them together. So, it's like they put the tumor back into his head. Then the computer reads the scan and measures exactly where he needs the radiation. Dr. Bryan said that because his tumor was so close to his optic nerve, they will have to be careful with the treatment plan. Basically, when he gets the radiation beam, it will not be as strong around his optic nerve, but will kick back up to high gear once it passes it. Dr. Bryan said that they normally radiate the tumor area plus 2.5 cm surrounding it. He also said that because his tumor was so small, the area they radiate will be small. Therefore, the side effects won't be as strong.

Harold had his CT scan today and had the "mask" made. The mask is made of hard mesh and keeps his head in place during radiation so that he doesn't move or flinch.

This is a picture of the "mask" attached to the backboard...not Harold's. Creepy, huh? I'm so claustrophic..this wouldn't work for me!

He said that once they have the plans ready, the radiation will only take a couple minutes each day. That's nice! I'll be able to pick him up Mon-Fri on my lunch hour and be right back to work very quickly. The lobby has a lounge with free drinks and cookies. And Harold gets discounts to the "Oasis" room, which includes $10 massages. I asked if spouses were included in these discounts...stay tuned...I'll find out.

As far as radiation, we're ready to go. Just waiting for our set Daily Appointment Time. Hopefully we will have that by Monday afternoon. I'll post as soon as we get it. I hope it's a good time. Because he has to take his nausea pill 2 hours before appt, then chemo pill 1 hour before. I don't want it to be too early or too late in the day.

The only not-so-good news we got was about Harold's vision. He's been complaining about his right eye being blurry. Well, Dr. Bryan determined that both of his eyes are fine individually. However, they are not working together. He has double vision. He said that it may or may not correct itself. That's kinda scary for us. He said we have to wait and see. When he told Harold to raise his eyebrows, only one side (the left side) raised up and wrinkled his forehead. We certainly pray this is only temporary.

So now we sit and wait for our appt...hard to get used to all this waiting.

I want to share something with you...I checked today to see how much Harold's chemo medicine costs. My c0-pay is only $50, which I'll gladly pay each month. But the retail cost for a one-month prescription without insurance was $9,267.22!! Can you believe that? Thank goodness for insurance! I seriously don't know how you would make it without it.

Anyhow, last night Hunter had his last baseball game, and I don't know who was more excited...Harold & me! Since Harold's accident, I've had to drive Hunter and Harold to all baseball practices and games, and it's been HARD! I'm not used to being the taxi. But we had a good season. We had our banquet right after the game. Pizza...cookies...cupcakes...and of course, the medallions! Each player got a gold medal. And the #1 fans got a medal..including Holden. The Coaches are so awesome to include the little ones too. I bet they had about 10 medals just for the siblings!

Tomorrow - we going to see Disney On Ice - The Incredibles. We are ALL looking forward to that. DisneyWorld is one of our most favorite vacations. Harold & I have almost been every single year since we were married. I'll update tomorrow with pictures. You know me!!!