Skip to main content

Gettin' Checked Out This Week

This is the week...finally. The last round of tests to determine that I am cancer free.

It's a pain in the butt really....but necessary. I have to do something everyday this week in follow up. Here's the lineup (trying to work the baseball references in for you, Gary, any way that I can!), all happening in Alexandria:


Monday: TSH shot
Tuesday: TSH shot
Wednesday: PET scan at 6:30 AM. Here's a link to a great explanation about a PET scan. Lots of dietary restrictions on Tuesday in preparation...no carb, milk. Feels a little like the low-iodine diet I had to be on prior to radioactive treatment in September but, thankfully, only for one day. AT 12:30 this same day, I have to get my radioactive tracer dose.
Thursday: whole body scan
Friday: blood work draw

So...the fun begins tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted, as always.

Comments

  1. DariaMarch 29, 2009 at 10:19 PM

    That's quite the schedule ... all the best with the PET scan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KristiMarch 30, 2009 at 8:48 AM

    You are in my prayers dear! I hope that everything runs smoothly and that you are cancer free. Hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  3. GaryMarch 30, 2009 at 10:47 AM

    So, to paraphrase:

    Monday - light work in the bullpen
    Tuesday - pitch batting practice
    Wednesday - low-pitch-count simulated game
    Thursday - Start, no more than 100 pitches
    Friday - ice, massage, video

    Does that capture it?

    And, yes, to your other note, we are going nuts!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quite a pay raise!

Today I received a press alert via email from my alma mater, Oklahoma State. Check out the first two paragraphs below: Following only the sixth nine-win regular season in school history, Oklahoma State University today announced a contract extension for head football coach Mike Gundy, giving him a new seven-year contract worth $15.7 million. The contract was announced following action by the OSU/A&M Board of Regents at its regular meeting in Miami. With the new contract, which is effective Jan. 1, 2009 and runs through December of 2015, Gundy’s average annual compensation will be more than $2.2 million. His current six-year contract paid him $1,053,000 this year. What the heck? That's quite a raise, and he didn't even beat OU, Texas, or Tech! Now, I went to OSU when Mike Gundy was the quarterback there. He was the quarterback during Barry Sanders' Heisman year. He seems like a nice guy and a great coach, but wow... In all fairness, I have to point out that I also read ...
2 comments
Read more

Third time is a charm? Third time stinks.

So....unfortunately it seems my gut (and the thyroglobulin blood test) was right. Ultrasound showed two "metastatic" lymph nodes. Same right side of the neck where I had four cancerous lymph nodes in 2008. Radiologist said we could biopsy them but he showed me...."here is what a normal lymph node looks like. But here is what this one...and this one look like. Not normal....with metastatic characteristics." Third time is a charm? Third time stinks. First diagnosed in 2008, recurrence in 2009, and now a recurrence in 2012. About 30% of thyroid cancer survivor struggle with recurrence, and I am in that 30%. What's next? A procedural biopsy next week. Surgery next month. Those are the facts. I'm still sorting through the emotions of it all so more on that later. Thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts.
9 comments
Read more

On my soapbox about "the best cancer to have"

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know I was on my soapbox this morning after reading yet another article about the dreaded subject of how thyroid cancer is "the best cancer to have." Think about that...the best cancer? Why would someone say that? In an attempt to make you feel better about having thyroid cancer, some health care profesionals try to convince those of us who have or have had thyroid cancer that it is "the best cancer to have" because it has a high survival rate. An aside here, that high survival rate applies to papillary carcinoma, one of the three types of thyroid cancer out there. Survival rates are lower for medullary carcinoma and anaplastic carcinoma, the other two types of thyroid cancer. Back on topic...OK, so tell us that papillary carcinoma has a high survival rate. Truly, that is good news. But because of this "best cancer to have" statement, and the fact that I was told my thyroidectomy would most likely be just an easy, ove...
13 comments
Read more