Ready, set, radiate!

Finally, I have something to actually report. This morning, Casey and I went to Sloan to meet with the radiation oncologist who will be treating Casey after chemo- Dr. Y. According to Dr. M, Dr. Y is totally famous and the doctor to see if you need radiation near a vital organ. Alison, Dr. M's fellow told Casey that this guy is the most renowned doc at Sloan. So, we felt pretty special today. And special treatment we got!

First, we met with Dr. Croog, who works with Dr. Y. I am not sure what her status is, but she is way younger than Dr. Y and definitely works under him. She was great- this tiny pixie of a doctor (looks like tinker bell), and spent 45 minutes talking with us about the upcoming radiation. Here is what happens: On Tuesday, 2/5, Casey gets another PET scan in Dr. Y's section of the hospital. They will use the scan to determine where Casey needs radiation and how to position him on the table. They even make a mold of him with his arms above his head. On Friday (a week from Friday), Casey goes back for a simulated radiation, where they give him tattoos.

Casey will get radiation on his chest, underarms, and neck. He gets radiation 20 times, and he goes Monday-Friday until he's had 20 sessions. There should be few side effects. He may experience some fatigue, but less so than from the chemo. His skin may be dry where they radiate, and he might get a sore throat and have difficulty swallowing. He has strict instructions to use special moisturizer on his chest and......NO DEODORANT. No one go near Casey during radiation, he'll be one stinky boy! Kidding- there is some natural deodorant they suggested.

Best of all, Dr. Croog explained that way back when he was first diagnosed, we made the right decision with going forward with Dr. M and the Stanford V plus radiation. Not that we were still having doubts, but at the time it was very tough- we had 2 doctors at a VERY prestigious hospitals with completely different treatment plans. Dr. Croog said she sees a lot of patients who didn't get enough chemo or didn't radiate, and then they relapse and need heavy doses of chemo and radiation and a stem cell transplant. And they can cure those people too! They just have a harder time of it.

Dr. Croog did a thorough exam of all of Casey's lymph nodes, and found no lumps. She was pleased with his exam, told us that this is absolutely going to cure Casey, and that they might even use some special technique. She left, and said she'd be back with Dr. Y.

Thirty minutes later (yes, the downside of such a busy hospital), Dr. Croog came back with Dr. Y and his nurse. Dr. Y is Israeli, I think, and was very soft spoken. He explained how beneficial radiation was for Casey (as if we were going to walk away and refuse!), and even told us that the risk of damage to the cardiac arteries was low! He said that theoretically, there is a cardiac risk, but it is minimal. To be safe, Dr. Y and Dr. M will monitor Casey's cholesterol- they even tested it today!

Next, the doctors left, and the nurse spent some time going through the booklet, the dos and donts, any side effects, and reasons why we should call the doctor in the middle of the night (fever, chills, bleeding, etc). Ultimately, it seems that although time consuming, radiation will be easier than chemo, and Casey should start feeling better soon.

This morning's appointment was really super. We both left feeling really uplifted and like we could see an end to this whole thing. We spent nearly 2 hours talking to the doctors, and it really felt that they had prepared for our appointment and knew everything about us before we walked in.

It's not over yet- Casey has one week left of chemo and then 20 rounds of radiation. But, we're feeling good and totally optimistic. Hopefully in the next few months I can change the name of this blog to just "Life, Love".....