Spoke to the Wizard at Cancer City
We are back from MD Anderson. In fact, we have been back since Wednesday night. When people have asked how it went all I say is that it was a whirlwind. Air travel with masks, amazing accommodations by my brother-in-laws family, and one of the most impressive medical operations I have seen.
Many don't realize that MD Anderson is situated on the largest medical campus in the world. It is literally as big as the City of Louisville. (traffic is much worse there than in Louisville even with the bridge project). This hospital has managed to retain some of the best cancer physicians in the world and literally people from all over the world come to see them. I mentioned in a previous post that cancer doesn't discriminate and while sitting in the waiting room at the hospital, this point was made even more evident as we heard several different languages and saw many people that were from all corners of the earth.
We met with both an OBGYN Oncologist and a Urologist Oncologist. Both were very thorough appointments with extensive interviews about her history and each included a physical examination. Overall we learned that Stephanie is in great hands with her current physician team in Louisville. Each doctor at MD Anderson corroborated her current care plan and gave a full endorsement. The biggest take-away from the visit to Houston was the excellent steak fajitas from Lupe Tortillas. I am kidding but they are damn good and I highly recommend you go there when in Houston.
The biggest takeaway was our understanding of the treatments available to Stephanie after her chemotherapy concludes. Stephanie's "flavor" of cancer is known to be chemoresistant in many patients (not all) which means that chemo is still effective but doesn't completely rid her of cancer. The OBGYN Oncologist is one of the foremost researchers of Stephanies "flavor" of cancer and he has as complete of an understanding of her cancer as anyone on the planet.
Unfortunately, the research on her cancer is still very much in the early evolutionary stage when it comes to cancer research. With that said, imagine that our understanding of cancer is the size of a dime. After meeting with the doctor's at MD Anderson, our understanding is now the size of a giant Thanksgiving platter. We now understand more about the options available to her than before and we will be able to utilize the MD Anderson throughout her treatment. If needed, we can visit again to assess additional options for Stephanie as we fight to get her well. We will likely travel there again at the conclusion of her chemo treatments to get a world class assessment on her prognosis and other treatment options. However, Stephanie and I are now more confident in our current physician team than ever before.
Many don't realize that MD Anderson is situated on the largest medical campus in the world. It is literally as big as the City of Louisville. (traffic is much worse there than in Louisville even with the bridge project). This hospital has managed to retain some of the best cancer physicians in the world and literally people from all over the world come to see them. I mentioned in a previous post that cancer doesn't discriminate and while sitting in the waiting room at the hospital, this point was made even more evident as we heard several different languages and saw many people that were from all corners of the earth.
We met with both an OBGYN Oncologist and a Urologist Oncologist. Both were very thorough appointments with extensive interviews about her history and each included a physical examination. Overall we learned that Stephanie is in great hands with her current physician team in Louisville. Each doctor at MD Anderson corroborated her current care plan and gave a full endorsement. The biggest take-away from the visit to Houston was the excellent steak fajitas from Lupe Tortillas. I am kidding but they are damn good and I highly recommend you go there when in Houston.
The biggest takeaway was our understanding of the treatments available to Stephanie after her chemotherapy concludes. Stephanie's "flavor" of cancer is known to be chemoresistant in many patients (not all) which means that chemo is still effective but doesn't completely rid her of cancer. The OBGYN Oncologist is one of the foremost researchers of Stephanies "flavor" of cancer and he has as complete of an understanding of her cancer as anyone on the planet.
Unfortunately, the research on her cancer is still very much in the early evolutionary stage when it comes to cancer research. With that said, imagine that our understanding of cancer is the size of a dime. After meeting with the doctor's at MD Anderson, our understanding is now the size of a giant Thanksgiving platter. We now understand more about the options available to her than before and we will be able to utilize the MD Anderson throughout her treatment. If needed, we can visit again to assess additional options for Stephanie as we fight to get her well. We will likely travel there again at the conclusion of her chemo treatments to get a world class assessment on her prognosis and other treatment options. However, Stephanie and I are now more confident in our current physician team than ever before.
Greg and Stephanie, I just discovered your blog today. I am following your story. Your both in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
ReplyDelete