Monday - 11/14/11 – Our first trip to the hospital in London
We had an appointment with Dr. Anthony Nichols. He does amazing work with head and neck surgery. Of course we had checked him out online before we got there and were very excited to meet him. We did the usual check in. Receptionist was very helpful. R.N. Sue made us feel more at ease. I had my rally shirt on again. Filled out yet another clipboard form. Met with Sr. Resident and repeated the same how did you get here story again. He went out to consult with Dr. Nichols and check the CT Scan / biopsy results from Stratford. Then Dr. Nichols came in. He confirmed that we are facing a 4cm tumour on the tonsil and a 2 cm tumour on the lymph node. That puts Ken in “stage 3” as they grade Cancer. But ‘just’ into stage 3. Should that make us feel better?! Yes. Better than a 4! Oh and yes, Mr. Endoscope came out for another visit…but with a little freezing this time! And complete with a computer monitor for us to watch at the same time! Unfortunately, we didn’t qualify for the robotics surgery. There are strict guidelines and based on the size of the tumour it wouldn’t work. He would also still need radiation (etc.) for the lymph node so the thought was to try to shrink without the surgery. We were to be referred to the Cancer Program and would hear from them by the end of the week. He explained chemotherapy and radiation and lots of other information. I took lots of notes. And just like last time…we were off to another step.
London Regional Cancer Program:
Dr. Nichols:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110215/lhsc-canadas-first-robot-throat-cancer-surgery-110215/
Next post – MEET THE NEW ADDITIONS TO THE KENNY & SAMMY TEAM
No comments:
Post a Comment