FROM TRI CABIN AARON, UPDATE FOR 18 JULY 2012... MAPPING
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:35 am
hello all, sorry for the delay. it's been quite a week for me and the treatment team at johns hopkins. monday i met with my radiation oncologist, his physicians assistant and the charge nurse for 'my team'. in addition, there were two resident interns in tow. hell, the more the merrier eh? they gave me the run down on the the possible outcomes and the side effects. since the proton beam will be aimed at my groin area, i'm sure you men can guess what they said 'could possibly' happen, once treatment is finished. needless to say, i'm really not taking that news well. onto other things. the type of cancer i have 'responds very very well' to the beam and the tiny bit of chemo. again, so i'm told. now, having been misdiagnosed 22.5 months ago, i'm taking everything just a little more skeptically. the treatment routine is once a day, monday thru friday, 10 minutes per session, for 28-35 days. the chemo is 5FU and will be distributed in pill form, two weeks into the treatment and runs the duration. after that, i am scanned again to see if there has been any positive progress. oh, and blood work is taken every friday for the month. i'll be quite the pin cushion by the end. damn glad i'm vascular and all my veins are visible.
okay, that brings us to today, wednesday the 18th. today i meet with the radiation team at 1600 for what is a 'simulation and mapping' session. they take the data and build a computer generated 3d model of the tumor and surrounding organs and then use that to program the machine. i then get 'directional tattoos' on the area to be 'beamed' and then once all the info is reviewed by 'my team', a start date is given to me. they are thinking that it will be the last week of this month. i will be off flight status for my treatment, so, i'm going to try to arrange to have the boat hauled, barnacles scraped, running gear cleaned (yes, prop changed too), zincs changed and maybe the hull waxed. have not decided on bottom painting yet, depends on the $$ amount. i've been told by the team that i will feel a little run down, but, i should be able to do some boat work, in fact, they are actively urging me to do it as the more i keep moving, the better my body will respond.
i then have to make a decision as to the long term outlook for the tri cabin. you guys know i love this boat like nothing else, but, the bottom line is, phil has completely abandoned any assistance ( his excuse is having a small business to run and cannot take the time to break away. in fact, he has YET to make it to any consult with me, once again, citing the above reason/excuse etc.... <okay, rant over> )
and, to be honest, i cannot take care of her by myself, much less take her out by myself.
it breaks my heart to even entertain this, but, reality is reality. i'm not done with boating, maybe i just need something smaller that i can handle alone, as i have a sinking feeling that is where i'm heading anyway.
don't want to sound depressing, but, as many of you know that have fought off and survived the big c, it changes your out look on things and makes one reevaluate ones direction.
i will keep you all posted.
fond regards.
tri cabin (for now anyway) aaron, baltimore, md.
okay, that brings us to today, wednesday the 18th. today i meet with the radiation team at 1600 for what is a 'simulation and mapping' session. they take the data and build a computer generated 3d model of the tumor and surrounding organs and then use that to program the machine. i then get 'directional tattoos' on the area to be 'beamed' and then once all the info is reviewed by 'my team', a start date is given to me. they are thinking that it will be the last week of this month. i will be off flight status for my treatment, so, i'm going to try to arrange to have the boat hauled, barnacles scraped, running gear cleaned (yes, prop changed too), zincs changed and maybe the hull waxed. have not decided on bottom painting yet, depends on the $$ amount. i've been told by the team that i will feel a little run down, but, i should be able to do some boat work, in fact, they are actively urging me to do it as the more i keep moving, the better my body will respond.
i then have to make a decision as to the long term outlook for the tri cabin. you guys know i love this boat like nothing else, but, the bottom line is, phil has completely abandoned any assistance ( his excuse is having a small business to run and cannot take the time to break away. in fact, he has YET to make it to any consult with me, once again, citing the above reason/excuse etc.... <okay, rant over> )
and, to be honest, i cannot take care of her by myself, much less take her out by myself.
it breaks my heart to even entertain this, but, reality is reality. i'm not done with boating, maybe i just need something smaller that i can handle alone, as i have a sinking feeling that is where i'm heading anyway.
don't want to sound depressing, but, as many of you know that have fought off and survived the big c, it changes your out look on things and makes one reevaluate ones direction.
i will keep you all posted.
fond regards.
tri cabin (for now anyway) aaron, baltimore, md.
