Me and the Cancer and Dr. Karen

Me and the Cancer and Dr. Karen
I was going to post this blog entry on Friday but I got side tracked with other things and then on Saturday there was the tutoring and then lunch with Doug at The Original Tommy’s Hamburgers.

I was shocked when I spoke to the nurses about how they liked the candy I left for them a week prior to this visit. Vhruna and Wendy said that the can was only half empty. That was a great surprise for me. The usual response is something akin to a feeding frenzy in the shark exhibit at an aquarium. I saw they had the can closed and placed on a high shelf. It seemed that they were intent on sharing their chocolate gift on a very limited basis.

Excellent planning ladies.

I went to see Dr. Karen on Friday, the 26th. On balance, she said I was doing fine and my cancer was still stabilized. She said my potassium was down a bit on my blood test the prior Friday. I said I missed my Rice Krispies with a banana that morning.

Dr. Karen asked how things went with the urologists. I said that they agreed my kidneys were normal and that was about I was expecting from them. Dr. Karen laughed and smiled.

Dr. Karen also adopted this avatar as her official Balancing Checkbooks avatar. I think it captures her personality well and it made her happy.

We talked about my visit to the colorectal surgeons. I said there was no visit or consultation because the doctor could not find the Tumor Board report about me. The report, created last June, was an agreed upon plan of treatment for me over the next fifteen to eighteen months. Every one of the key players, including me, had bought into the plan.

Perfectomundo.

Dr. Karen said, “That’s odd. Dr. Ho’s note from the consultation said she discussed a January 16th liver laperotomy [exploratory liver surgery] and then a [insert here a fancy medical term for cutting out my liver lesions here] with the patient.”

My mind quickly went to several perfectly good Anglo Saxon phrases to use for chronic disbelief. I’m certain that you can pick one of your own choosing to insert there.

Dr. Karen opened her mouth and nothing came out. That was the first time I caught her speechless for a moment.

That was not the response that I was looking for from my oncologist.

Anyway, Dr. Karen moved on and recovered very well. She suggested that since Dr. Vora and Dr. Ho were so anxious to cut me open, she would order some more tests, a MRI and a CT scan. Then, she proposed taking my case back to the Tumor Board for a six months review and to reaffirm the June treatment decision.

I said she could slap the other doctors over their heads with the correct playbook.

Then, I pointed out to Dr. Karen that if I am scheduled for surgery on the 16th that she can come visit me in the recovery room for our regular visit. I will be in the hospital and unlikely to be going anywhere soon after surgery.

Judging from the look on her face, I think my attempt at humor with her failed.

So, where does that leave me with the treatment?

My cancer is stable and that is good for me.

I have no complications with my kidneys and that is good for me.

My case is going to get another thorough review by the experts and that is good for me.

Dr. Karen decided to take me off of the Xeloda for the next two weeks in the remote possibility that I will have surgery. She didn’t want the surgery to happen right after a chemotherapy session and that is good for me.

Dr. Karen likes her avatar and that is very good for me.

I need to work on my joke delivery and maybe have Doug write some good jokes for me.

When Dr. Karen finished her examination of me, she excused herself. This is normal; she usually speaks with the head of the oncology clinic before coming back and giving me a final verbal checkout and saying the prescription and appointment notices were being prepared.

She was frustrated when she returned about twenty minutes later. Dr. Karen does not do frustration well at all. “I have been trying for twenty minutes to talk with Dr. Ho or some other doctor over there and no one will come to the phone or return my calls. This is so frustrating for me.”

I smiled and nodded knowingly. I was going to say something like it is comforting to know the colorectal people treat the professionals as well as they seem to do with the patients. I thought better of my comment and left it at the nod and smile.

I wished Dr. Karen’s University of California Berkeley Bears a victory in the Emerald Bowl on this past Saturday. Her Bears won and so she ought to be smiling more today. Dr. Karen went to the University of California Berkeley as an undergraduate.

Doug didn’t come up for the visit because neither one of us were expecting anything significant to come out of the visit. We talked about the surprising revisionist view of history that came from colorectal surgery. Doug said that this seemed to be a continuation of the pattern of colorectal surgery to lose or misplace important documents. This wasn’t the first time that something was lost.

On the plus side, my next appointment with Dr. Karen is at 1:00 PM so Doug will be able to come to it if he wants to be there. That was my visit to see Dr. Karen.


Be well and stay happy.