update - met team and now prepping for radiation/chemo

Karrie42

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to post an update. What a crazy day at the Portland VA/OHSU!

We had three appt's in one day on thursday, with them all blending into each other (from 2:30pm - 6:00pm straigh through) - Surgery, Chemo and Radiation. Despite the long day, we have a really awesome team and I feel sooo much better and relieved that we have good people working with us. Dr. Donn Spight is amazing - as well as performing several MIE a month, he actually teaches the OHSU medical students on the MIE technique.

Dad is going up there tomorrow for the radiation "tattoos" - getting him fitted for the IGRT machine. Supposedly this machine spares more "normal tissue" than other methods. Then later this week or early next week they will start the radiation/chemo combo for 5/6 weeks. They want him to be up there, so the VA will be putting him in an apartment for 6 weeks. My mom and I are trying to figure out our schedules so that at least one of us can be up there with him for most days.

Thank you to everyone who helped me go up to the consultations with information and questions - it really helped!!

Any tips on making this 6 weeks of intense chemicals going through his system easier to bare are welcome!!!

- Karrie