Decision time

Good day/Bad day?: pretty good

Cough. But maybe getting better?

I've decided. I've been waiting for the authorization for the 3rd (Milw) radiation consult and it's been not moving along swiftly. With more time to think, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to be okay sitting on those recurrence numbers, even if I heard different (smaller) ones from the 3rd MD. I also discussed with the 2nd MD the idea about saving radiation as an option for my arsenal if it came back later--he said that a local recurrence would have likely been from the few cells left behind that were chemo-resistant and not removed by surgery. He said it would be much more effective to irradiate those few cells now than to wait for them to mutate and develop into a new tumor--by the time a growth would be 1cm big, it would have a billionish cells, and the odds of killing all of them with the radiation would be less. Makes sense.

He also didn't minimize what it actually means to irradiate yourself, the side effects. He's the first MD that didn't downplay lymphedema, and he actually sends patients prophylactically to an occupational therapist to learn to deal with it and minimize it. So, I'm biting the bullet and signing up for another 6 weeks of treatment. I'll keep you posted when I know more details...