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Today is Thursday. I have spent the past three days at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Monday to Wednesday I had appointments, meeting with everyone from the nutritionist to the mind, body and spirit guy to the oncologist. I had expected the appointments to last all day every day; however, the appointments really only lasted through the mornings, except for Monday, when I had a few in the afternoon. I didn’t have any expectations for the visit and was just there to keep an open mind to see what they would recommend based on my previous charts and information.
The oncologist basically said he would have suggested the same path that I am currently on (starting with the cisplatin chemotherapy and then the tarceva). The nutritionist gave me some good recommendations for helping to keep food down and helping to clarify some of the “miracle diets” that supposedly cure cancer, such as the Alkaline diet and the “no sugar” diet. The naturopath doc gave me some supplements to help build my immune system and that are supposed to help with side effects of the chemo. Overall, the service is five star. Everyone on staff is really nice. CTCA almost feels like a hotel rather than a hospital. One of the things that I was really impressed with was the fact that each doctor had their laptop they carried around and were able to access my chart at the click of a button. This helped with communication, and access to information is easy compared with some of the other hospitals, where there is only one chart or binder with handwritten notes.
Today I had an appointment to meet with the radiologist and the pain management doctor. I didn’t have a ride to the appointment, so CTCA sent a limo to come pick me up for my appointment! I met with the radiologist and we discussed my pain and the radiation that I had before. The radiologist recommended that I have 15 rounds of radiation to my lower back. They scheduled this starting tomorrow with the markings, and then next Wednesday I will start the actual radiation.
I was done with this appointment around 2:30 p.m., so I had an hour and a half before the next appointment with the pain doc. I was extremely nauseous and had a pounding headache that had started from this morning. All I wanted to do was to lay down with an ice pack on my head. Instead, I headed to the pharmacy to pick up my supplements and then to the coffee shop, where I decided to order the “berry carrot coconut milk smoothie,” as recommended by the nutritionist. At first sip, I was a little disgusted with the half-sweet, half-vegetable flavor, but after a couple more sips, the smoothie started growing on me and started actually tasting refreshing.
I walked outside to the front, where I figured at least I could get some fresh air that may feel good, especially since the temperature outside wasn’t that high and the wind was blowing. I spent the next 45 minutes wasting time talking on the phone and answering e-mails until I finally had my pain doc appointment.
After meeting with the pain doctor, I felt even more confident with CTCA. This pain doctor examined me, looked at my charts, asked questions and after about a half hour consultation had a plan of action. He immediately recommended switching up my pain meds. I am on 300 mg of morphine three times per day. This amount is enough to kill a normal person that hasn’t built up a tolerance or doesn’t have true pain. The problem is that I am still having pain….even at this level. It’s time to switch it up. He recommended methadone since it is much more difficult for the body to become tolerant of this drug. In addition, next Monday I will most likely head back to CTCA for a surgery that is similiar to the vertebroplasty, but is called coblation of tumor with vertebroplasty.
This new treatment uses a plasma mediated medical device, the Cavity SpineWand®, to debulk, or reduce, the lesion. Bone cement can be injected to stabilize the fracture. Stabilization of the fracture helps to ease the pain associated with compression fractures such as mine. The combined therapies have been successfully used in tandem with radiation and chemotherapy. After researching this method, I learned that there are only 200 physicians as of December 2008 that have been trained in this progressive treatment. As a second phase, I will remain in the hospital at CTCA with a pain pump while they switch me to the methadone to see if it helps with the pain. This is the best idea I have heard in a long time!
At least this was a different solution than changing my prescription or automatically going to the pain pump as a solution. In this case, they are using the pain pump as the last resource. I am really excited to have these doctors with a new outlook. I really like the oncologist that I am currently seeing; however, the overall package offered by CTCA seems much more along the lines of what may be beneficial to me in the long run and may help with some of the frustrations I have had in the past with some of the hospitals.
Link to blog: http://themelissawaller.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/new-opportunity/
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Melissa,
June 26, 2009 - 4:29pmSounds like you had a great experience at CTCA! Limo, interesting smoothie and new pain management options!!! Good luck with your up coming surgery, I look forward to reading your update. You're in my prayers.
~Angelica
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Melissa, You write so well, I can walk right along with you and make a face when "YOU" tell of the smootie taste; appreciated your comment on the doctors laptops and medical chart accessibility. I look forward to electronic health records and all medical records being available to OUR doctors/hospitals, etc., in my opinion it will make it easier on we the patient and cause less mistakes...
June 26, 2009 - 10:11amYou have good day and if we don't "chat" before...Happy July 4th.
Princeline
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