FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2006 07:56 PM, CDT
I had my appointment at 8:00am at MD Anderson yesterday. I had every intention of sending out an update when I got done at MD, but I was completely exhausted (and a little too medicated). I saw the doctor first thing and she ordered just about every test that I had already done in San Angelo to be done again...and then some. They re-did my CT scans and had to hook me up to IV to inject Barium through me, they drew blood, they did new x-rays, they were ever so thorough. To compound all of this, I have an EXTREME fear of needles. We waited for several hours for that IV, partly because I had a panic attack early on that prompted them to call in their IV Team to come in to do it. There was only one team member on call in the whole building, so we had to wait for a couple of hours. She got the IV in correctly on the second try. Just my luck. Once the IV was in, they gave me a Benedryl drip to make me a little sleepy and calm me down a bit. We didn't get done with all the tests until after 7:00pm.
The waiting rooms were filled with fish tanks and had jigsaw puzzles at nearly every table. I discovered that I am not so good at jigsaw puzzles! Every person we met at MD was so very nice, very friendly, and very warm. They all seem to be very compassionate and to really care about the patients there.
The technician who did my CT scan was named Alma and had grown up in McAllen. I think she could tell that this was not my cup of tea and she started to talk to me about the Valley and about visiting Mexico. She asked me if they knew what was wrong with me yet and I told her I had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She left the room and did another round of tests and she came back in to talk some more. She told me that she was not supposed to be working in this department today, but had gotten placed there anyway. She said that she believed that she was there that day to talk to me. Alma went on to tell me that she, too, had ovarian cancer. It was discovered when she was almost 19 years old. She has been cancer-free for several years now. She felt so strongly about the treatment she got at MD and miracles they work, that she studied to be a CT technician and decided that was where she wanted to work. She was very encouraging and a comfort to talk to.
Because of the holiday on Monday and my doctor's schedule, my next appointment is not until Thursday afternoon. At this appointment, the doctor will discuss the plan of action she recommends based on the tests that were done yesterday. She told me to enjoy the holiday weekend in the meantime. Ha!
~Heather~