Oh! And...

A question form an Anonymous reader and commenter has prompted me to post another post tonight about the more practical side of things. Which is hard, because we dont really know.... anything. So it might be easier to tell you what I dont know, than what I do.


My next oncologist appointment is on friday (I think/hope). I will be asking my oncologist:

- Am I starting the next round on monday or tuesday of next week?
- How many more rounds do I have? (mum and I think it will be like 3 or 4. I think. Basically we're expecting it to go until around my birthday in mid february)
- So with this new chemical replacing the doxorubicin, what kind of time will I be spending in the treatment room? Will it still be just one day? Or will it take a few days to administer? How many?
- Does this one have any yucky long term side effects like the doxo did?
- Considering the first choice was the doxo despite it having the potential to cause heart problems, is this chemical expected to be less effective?
- After I finish treatment, whats the protocol? At what intervals will I be getting scanned to see if the cancer returned?
- What happens if when I finish the planned number of treatments and get that PET scan, there are still cancerous cells showing up?
- Is that at all likely?
- Is there any point speculating about the possibility of radiotherapy on the surgery site at this point?
- If that were to go ahead, would it require a trip to sydney?
- I've heard about a study/studies that indiciate that women who get straight back to work after completing treatment from breast cancer tend to have the best results. Do you think this can be extended to all cancer patients? Do you think this was because getting back to a normal routine is just that beneficial, or is it probably more that those women were the ones doing well enough in themselves already, and that being at that level of physical and mental health that quickly is in fact the major factor. Or is it probably a combination of both?
- What happens with my disability pension when I finish chemo? What if I dont go back to working straight away?
- Is there really a time frame in which if nerves are going to heal after surgery, they will have done so?
- At this point do you think my L3 is still actually fractured, or would it be mostly inflammation and nerves and stuff at this point?
- WIll my sense of taste ever go back to what it was before I started treatment?


...Well, I'll forget a lot of them, but hopefully my parents will have similar questions.