The moon will be in the seventh house - someday.

I spent the week visiting different doctors.

Monday: My internist to be treated for a bladder infection probably caused by the catheter in the hospital. Over the weekend, before I could get antibiotics, I drank a lot of cranberry juice. Note: compulsive consumption of prodigious amounts of cranberry juice can cause diarrhea.

Tuesday: A follow-up with my surgeon where I learned I won’t be having anymore surgery. In the hospital, he talked as if I needed to have another surgery as soon as possible to remove the rest of the lung. So, I only have to recover from one, this procedure. Hooray!

Wednesday: A follow-up with my oncologist who gave me the wonderful news that he did not think I should have chemo. Chemo, he said, is to prevent the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body. He said the tumor is a “localized recurrence”, meaning it is probably a remnant left from the original, especially since it occurred along the edge of the removed lobe. There is no sign of metastasis, or spreading beyond the original tumor, as evidenced by my pre-surgery PET scan.

The news lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. I knew I could handle surgery, but the thought of more chemo was hugely depressing. My biggest fear was that I would have more chemo and that it would have to be even stronger than before. He is, however, recommending further targeted radiation to “mop up” any possible remaining cancer cells from the immediate area. Apparently, great strides have been made in accurately targeting the therapy so that there is as little splash onto other, healthy areas as possible. NumbersGuy can explain the physics – I can’t so I will take his word for it.

I am thrilled. Although there will be side effects to radiation, apparently they won’t be as traumatic as those I encountered during chemo. We have to wait for the surgery to have time to heal, usually four to six weeks. As far as I know, the usual protocol is to get radiation therapy once a day for four to six weeks. I should be glowing like a neon sign by the end. I wonder if I will set off Geiger counters.

Other developments: Spastic Nipple is back. I noticed this phenomenon after my first surgery when I described it to Kokeshikitten who then named it. As all of the lingering anesthetic effects wear off, the pain spreads around my chest like a band from the middle of my back around to my sternum, only on the side where the surgery was. This includes weird tingling, stabbing pains in my nipple! It’s very annoying.

Today, NumbersGuy bought me a vintage rocking chair. I plan to spend lots of time there with my Kindle.



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