A personable doctor? They do exist!

Today I was able to do yesterday's goal and see my oncologist, Dr. Wagner.  I am now pretty sure it is his secretary that messed up my appointment date and time; she has only been a secretary for about two weeks, so she had to be shown how to do everything that involved a new patient.  However, Dr. Wagner gets major kudos for his waiting room.  There is a big table in the middle of it . . . with a puzzle!  The twenty minutes we waited flew by as my husband and I committed ourselves to a personal battle against that puzzle.  (A battle which we lost since between the two of us we only found spaces for five pieces.)

Dr. Wagner himself is an immigrant from Hungary, so he has a strong accent that makes him sound like a scientist from a horror movie.  Just think of a cancerous Frankenstein.  However, he is very friendly and personable.  He was able to answer all of my questions without batting an eye, and repeatedly asked if I had any concerns with my treatment or with the cancer in general.  He also let my husband and I know that he looked at my MRIs with Dr. O and was in shock at that size of my tumor and how much was able to be removed.  He wasn't able to spot any leftover tumor in the MRIs or the CTs.  YEAH!  But, we are still going with the planned treatment "because it is not visible does not mean that it is not there" (imagine that said with a Hungarian accent, I had to restrain a giggle).  Here is the plan:

I do believe that most doctors would fail an English class.  Anyway, I will doing my radiation and chemo at the same time beginning in about a week and a half.  For chemo I'll be taking 48-50mg Monday through Friday, which is pretty low (yes!).  My initial treatment with the chemo and radiation will last six to seven weeks.  After that, for six months I'll continue my chemo; four weeks off, and then one week on 280-380mg.  I asked if I would be able to return to work after my six to seven weeks of treatment, and Dr. Wagner said that they would take some blood samples to see then.  Apparently I get to give blood samples every two weeks.  Anyone have any men in their lives they want to see on the floor?  If they come with me to Dr. Wagner's it can be arranged.

I passed Dr. Wagner's physical with flying colors.  He was really surprised that I did so well since the surgery was just two and a half weeks ago.  He has no doubt I'll pass that two and a half hour physical at Dr. Stille's next week.

Open wide . . .

Unfortunately there is still no word on my tumor sample that was sent off to the specialists of the specialists.  My James Dean continues to be its rebellious self, and I continue to be hungry.  Dinner, here I come!