Reality got one step closer today…as soon as the sliding doors opened into the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP) building. We started out in the main reception area. That’s where all the newbies gather and fill out yet another clipboard form. We also got an information package. As Ken was filling out his form, it started. One little sniffle…no you’re fine…then another. Then big tears quietly rolling down my cheeks. Ken looked over and gave me a nice stroke on the back and asked ‘what’s wrong’. All I could say was ‘I don’t know…I’m leaking!’ I really just wanted to scream ‘we shouldn’t be here’! Everybody was staring at their info package with a deer in the headlight look! Big breath. All good. And so started a very full day of information overload. Starting from 9am-4:30pm.
Our new team:
Primary Nurse: Marg – gave us the run down on what to expect during the day and who we would be meeting. She coordinated all the appointments for the day and got us where we were supposed to go.
Resident: Dr. Jenna Theriault – Repeated our story to her. She checked out Teddy and brought in Mr. Endoscope and the monitor. She took my colour printouts of Teddy’s progression. I took pictures (almost) every day so we/they could see how it was growing. Kind of a ‘see…get that thing out of there’ photo journal.
Radiation Oncologist: Dr. Nancy Read – came in with Dr. John Yoo (surgeon…he’s in the robot kid clip from last posting) & Dr. Theriault. Did the scope so everybody could check things out together. They liked how things looked and where Teddy was sitting. Dr. Yoo confirmed that surgery wouldn’t be done. We would go straight to treatments. They all liked my pictures.
Everybody left but Dr. Read. She went over what treatments they recommended. Radiation 5 times/week for 7 weeks. Chemotherapy (Cisplatin) on Monday of week 1, 4 & 7. If Ken’s platelets were still low, chemo may have to be once a week because they have to reduce the dosage. She explained the side effects of both. I’ll spare you what they are here. Feel free to Google on your own. We would have to come back for a mask fitting and an MRI. We were given a prescription for Ativan to relax before both. Treatments would probably start 2 weeks from today.
Sam – An ear, nose, throat Dr. came in and got Ken’s consent to have an extra vial of blood taken to participate in a Head & Neck study checking for ‘identification of circulating tumour cells’. Dr. Nichols & Dr. Yoo are part of that study. Hopefully, we can be a part of helping people in the future with what they find out.
Everybody left so we had some lunch in our little exam room. Ken left the room for a few minutes and Nurse Marg came in with a sample radiation mask. I was like ‘ok…you better take that out until Ken comes back because he hasn’t seen one yet’. I had seen one online but Ken didn’t want to know until he needed to. When Ken was back she brought it back in. She also had our appointments for the MRI, etc. She went over side effects again and what to expect for the rest of the day. Next stop, the dentist! Yes, they have their own dental department.
Dentist: Dr. G.D. Soskin – This was quite the tour to get to the dental clinic. It is in the hospital section ALL the way at the other end on the main floor. Luckily, Marg sent us with a map! Radiation in the head area is very hard on your teeth and jaws. It affects your saliva glands so you can't rinse the food away from your teeth the way you usually do. Ken had an xray taken in a very modern stand up kind of machine. If any teeth looked questionable, they would need to be pulled before treatments started. Luckily all were fine. She did want him to have a cleaning with his regular Dentist (Dr. Mark Straus) in the next few days. The Dental Assistant, Kim, made impressions of Ken’s top and bottom teeth. He will have to have fluoride trays every night for life (4 minutes each time) starting the night before the 1st treatment!! He’ll also have to keep a water bottle with him for the dry mouth and to keep the food out. We will see Dr. Soskin every few weeks during treatments and every 3 months for 5 years. Luckily OHIP covers those appointments (but not the trays or the fluoride). Kim and Dr. Soskin were very nice and we got some great advice and had a few laughs along the way.
Then, we were off for blood work. No one was waiting so that didn’t take too long.
Medical Oncologist - Dr. Sara Kuruvilla – This is our chemo Dr. She went over what to expect with treatments and when they would happen. Lots of fluids are important. Chemo would be 4½-6 hours each time. We were told to watch Ken’s temperature. Anything 38 degrees for an hour or anything 38.5 and up is a trip to emergency because his body will be trying to fight something and he’ll need antibiotics. We now have a “Fever Card” to get us to the front of the line if that happens (no Amy, you can’t use it J). She said I was famous because my pictures were circulating around the department. They wondered what type of camera I used…just my good old Blackberry!
GOOD NEWS – Ken’s platelets were 129!
Absolutely love how smooth things run at LRCP. We barely wait for anything. Everyone is very helpful and gives us lots of good information and advice. We get a pager when we get there that buzzes when they're ready for us.
So, in summary, all of Ken’s caregivers are female! I like that and so does he probably J.
Give Teddy hell bro!
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