October 19, 2005

Chemo Day

Today is to be my first day of chemotherapy. I am scheduled to be there at 9:00 am and I am told it will take five hours. But I expect it will take longer. I find the medical profession does not work on a tight schedule.

I set my Palm to wake me up at midnight last night to take 20mg of Dexamethasone. After my jog this morning, I took another 20mg of Dexamethasone. This is supposed to help reduce the side effects of the chemo.

I’ve got my laptop ready to go – although I don’t know if I’ll have access to the internet. I’m also taking a copy of Lance Armstrong’s book and, of course, I’ll have my Palm. I don’t know if I’ll be able to locate myself close to an electrical outlet.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to see another oncologist. This one is from the University of Pennsylvania. He has an office Cherry Hill, which is a lot closer.

Posted by The Vorlon at October 19, 2005 6:15 AM
Comments

Best of luck to you today Ted. I'm here praying for you and Karol.

Posted by: Ann at October 19, 2005 8:45 AM

I have not been to your blog in a long time, I just happened to pop in today and read about your medical mis-adventures.

Last Spring, my father went through a similar situation, back and forth to a bazillion different doctors; ending up at Fox Chase where he had a few MRI's and X-ray’s and various other tests all due to this "mass" they had found in his stomach...needless to say we were expecting the worse.

Long story short after about five months of tests and doctor's visits, it turned out that when they did the FOURTH biopsy, the mass was nothing more than a fatty deposit.

The moral: get a second, third and fourth opinion!

Whatever happens, please keep us posted.

Good thoughts and Good luck being sent your way! Hang in there, this too shall pass.

Posted by: Pax Romano at October 19, 2005 10:39 AM

You might be surprised to learn that the hospital has a wi-fi hot spot. Getting close to an outlet might be a little tricky, but with an extra battery you could get about 5-6 hours on the new Dell.

It is good that you are getting second opinions and seeing different specialists.

Good luck today.

Posted by: Reb Orrell at October 19, 2005 10:41 AM

Good Luck Ted, hope you don't have any bad side effects.
We are thinking about you.
Cheryl and Ed

Posted by: Cheryl at October 19, 2005 10:50 AM