Another Cancer Note

Insurance update: Appeal denied. Doctor upset. Doctor dictating letter to insurance company. Drenda distressed that MRI of brain seems so very important. Doctor not so upset that CT scan denied -- good news is that all blood tests came back normal, so CT scan not so imperative.

More good news(?) is that delay of testing does not cause delay in treatment. Chemo slated to begin next week -- Thursday.

So here is my schedule, as it stands at this moment, for the next few days:
Wednesday (tomorrow) -- appointment with the surgeon to check incision sites; echo-cardiogram to check heart health
Friday, Dec. 12 -- surgery to insert port
Saturday -- cut that hair off!
Sunday - Tuesday: normal days (hopefully!)
Wednesday, Dec. 17: appointment with oncologist for blood work and ?
Thursday, Dec. 18: first administration chemo -- 4-5 hours
Christmas Day: remainder of hair should be falling out. Could be worse. It is only hair, and a "renewable resource" as my husband so lovingly reminded me! Sustainable, in other words :-) That is us -- we're all about being sustainable around here~

It is good to have a plan. I am anxious to start treatment so I can be done with treatment. then I realize, I will never be done with this cancer thing. that is difficult. I find myself dividing my life into "before cancer" and "after cancer". Life was so simple and, in retrospect, care-free "before cancer". But the interesting thing is that I thought I had problems then. If only.

So, if you think about me in the next few weeks, please pray that God will give me peace of heart, especially in the evenings and nights, that I'd be able to get through the chemotherapy with the least possible physical hinderances (aka vomiting), and that the treatment would be COMPLETELY successful and that I will be declared cancer-free. Pray, too, for Don, Anna, Rachel and Ellie. This is so difficult for them as well.