Chemo Day! As you may have read on my prior blogs, Jon's white counts have been low and he has been using supplements not medications to raise them. We had been debating the pros and cons of using the Lukeine all weekend and Jon finally said he would bet me that his white count would be normal and he would be able to have chemo today. Well guess who won the bet?? His differentiated white counts were all normal as were his platelets. Only the hemoglobin and hematocrit were slightly low. He is also feeling much better since yesterday and we've come to the conclusion that it was his cold more than anything that drug him down over the weekend. I guess after everything we've been through we've become a bit paranoid any time he starts to feel bad. We have this fear that if he starts to get sick he won't get out of bed for weeks. Jon also said that as the PET scan closer he starts to get a bit nervous about the results. I would say I am more excited then nervous...we haven't had a bad scan yet (other than the first one!) I fully expect to see improvement, the only question will be how much and if he will need surgery.
We have a new doctor at SCTWC. He is a Primary Care Physician who sees Jon each visit (don't worry Dr. Chue is still in charge, we just see him and Dr. Reilly once a month). That position was formerly delegated to a Physicians Assistant until two weeks ago. Our new guy, Dr. Chan came in for his weekly visit. He is a fairly young, sincere and genuine guy. Of course you know Jon, he has to give the poor guy a bad time so he's not quite sure what to think of the whole thing. When Jon told him we were using a natural product and that he didn't take the meds to raise his white count he practically fell out of his chair. The first question he asked was how much it cost. When I told him my cost was around $12 and that it would sell for $25 or so at a health food store he was even more stunned. Next he asked how many pills were in a bottle. They guy just couldn't believe that we could obtain something that effective for the price. That led to a discussion of the pharmaceutical companies and their power in health care. We were teasing him about the elaborate lunches they bring to SCTWC and Dr. Chan said "Oh, they've really toned that down, they use to take us on exotic vacations but that's been illegal for about ten years." Wow...ever wonder what drives our healthcare system??
Dr. Chan went on to say that he really enjoyed working at SCTWC and how different it was from his former job. He was excited to tell us that he has referred other pancreatic cancer patients to Dr. Chue and they have actually lived for up to three years. As he was leaving the room Jon said, "Dr. Chan, just want to let you know, I plan on living a lot longer then three years...I'm shooting for 90 or so." Dr. Chan was a little flustered and said "Yes, of course that is our goal"
When our mind and body therapist, Robin paid us a visit later in the day we told her the story. Jon said she had a little work to do in the Hope department with our new Dr. Chan. Robin thanked Jon for what he had said to Dr. Chan and commented that the learning curve is quite steep for doctors coming in form other facilities.
So all in all a successful day. Jon continues to kick cancer's ass. I am asking that the PET scan be scheduled after next Tuesday's chemo.
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The other day my coworker told me what had happened when he called in sick the previous day. He went to his regular doctor for an 11:00 appt. When he got there, he was told she was on lunch. He waited out in his car for an hour. He went back in, waited some more, was told that he had to go to a different office. Due to a change in his insurance, his primary care physician had been changed with no notice to him. So he drove to the other location (30 minutes) and waited more when he got there. Total time OUR HOURS!!! I listened intently to his story and said, "Well, that's why I'll be voting for Hillary Clinton. I don't care what you think of her, she takes care of people." If you, like me, agree that we need health care reform, you too should vote for her. Her and Bill put health care reform on the map.
One last note...my friend Sherry (who lives in Ireland) told me when I said Dad had cancer that she could never leave Ireland to go back to the states. Why? They have government health care provided for free in Ireland. That's it. That's the one and only reason. And, I guess, knowing that Sherry had a baby over there only proves her point. Average cost to stay overnight in a hospital here in the US to deliver a baby with no complications? $11,000.
Remember...YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
That's supposed to say "FOUR" hours...
Jon says: Please be advised that all opinions expressed on the comment page are not necessarily endorsed by the management :)
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