This has been a busy week. When last we saw our intrepid meerkat, she was heading in to meet with the oncology specialist, who had all of her lab work and test results, and was ready to sit down and discuss What Next. That was Monday.
I’ll spare you the hour and a half, complete with whiteboard (seriously, he used a whiteboard, and it was detailed, exhausting, and amazing) and cut to the spoilers: against serious odds, I got a Best Case Scenario. The tests came back clean, and while I’m not exactly healthy, there’s no need for HIPEC at this time.
Clean does not mean cured. I’ll have to go in for regular CT scans every three months for the foreseeable future, to monitor things, and any one of those scans could bring bad news. But I’m taking it three months at a time, and right now, those three months (and probably the three after that) are good.
Yesterday I met with my GP, and discussed the related surgical issues (managing the still-extant pain, mitigating the effects of surgical menopause, etc) and dealing with the emotional and physical whiplash of the past three months. I now have an actual Team, comprising of my GP, two oncologists, a surgeon, a GI specialist, and a therapist.
Yes, a therapist. I know from past experience that short-term therapy is an amazing ‘bridge’ over rough terrain, and – best case scenario or no – this has been and continues to be rough as fuck. I’m going to take all the help I can get, physically and emotionally. The only shame would be in NOT using all available tools and aid.
Because, as I said at the beginning of all this:Â I’ve got a lot left to do, and I intend to get it done.
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