JK

My doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering are great. I have a lot of them, and I always feel like I’m in the best hands. I especially like my eye doctor who I don’t even need an appointment to see and who gives me really high self esteem. He always tells me how smart I am. Plus, since my vision is great, I drop by just because I love passing tests.

My brain surgeon is a rock star. When she saw the size of my tumor, she delayed her vacation and got right in there – I was back home in two days! My primary oncologist is kind and calm and young. She’s never in a rush, and she encourages protest participation.

I like my radiation oncologist too, although sometimes seeing him is an emotional roller coaster ride. Last year, during the same visit that he told me that my brain was perfect (Yay!!!), he also reminded me that every day was a gift (Dang). Don’t get me wrong – I appreciate every day being a gift, and thanks for the reminder. But it made me feel closer to toast than was probably necessary at the time.

Yesterday, he broke the news that there was cancer progression in my spine and hip (Boo). When I asked him how my brain looked – he said “Did I look at your brain? I think it looked fine.” (Yay!!) But I told him he’d better double check. He pulled up the scan on his computer, and upon further reflection, he thought that-  Hmmm – yes there are new metastases. (F).

Luckily, he said that my brain could be easily “spot welded” with radiation and the spots were small and in places that were easy to reach. He also said that my hip could be zapped at the same time. Only one day of radiation (Yay!!).

The nurse who was with us for the whole visit gave me TWO Valentine’s day brownies because it was clear to her that I needed both. The nurses as MSK are the best.