Tuesday, May 06, 2008
CANCER JOURNAL - THE SOAP OPERA CONTINUES
It's time to flip another coin.
Noticed a rash on my arm this morning in the shower--the same arm where the ultra-sounds revealed two blood clots, and the same arm that has remained swollen since last November.
Saw my oncologist at noon for the first time since being in the hospital and stopping all cancer medication.
She laid out the next plan of treatment which involves both IVs and tablets that will continue for 6 to 8 months and require a trip to her office every week during this period of time. This plan of action has resulted from the belief that the last medication I took caused the second blood clot. I showed her the rash and the swelling. She decided she needed yet another ultra sound done at the hospital where she practices. It was done this afternoon. When the technician finished she said she couldn't find any blood clots at all. She called the oncologist and then rechecked my veins. No blood clot. This is just 11 days after the ultra-sound at another hospital showed two.
If there has been no blood clot, I have been taking rat poison for six months for no valid reason. On the other hand, if there has been a blood clot and I stop the rat poison, I could die from another one developing in my heart.
One technician found them on two different tests five months apart. The second technician could not find any. The technician who found two was at the hospital where the records of Coumadin given to me in the hospital were not kept.
It would seem that somebody somewhere doesn't have their act together. The question is who?
Heads? Tails?
