Basketball and Continuing treatment

From last Wednesday through Saturday, we were at the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament here in Chattanooga. This is really a marathon for those of us who want to see every game (men's and women's). Unfortunately, our Lady Mocs (UT Chattanooga) were upset in their first game - they were the odds-on favorites to win the conference. Our men, however, went on to win the tournament in a great game on Saturday, and will be playing at least the first round in the NCAA. Also on Saturday, the women's final was held. Our team wasn't playing, but it was a great game, that went into double-overtime before Western Carolina finally won. All in all, an exciting tournament!

I saw the radiologist this morning, and treatments will start next Monday. So, our three planned elderhostels in April have to be cancelled. This is certainly a disappointment, but not really a surprise. As with everything else that's been done so far, the people involved have been wonderfully kind, caring and considerate.

I went to the Cancer Center and saw Dr. Ellis for the initial visit. I loved it that after he introduced himself, and asked how I was feeling, he asked me what my "panic factor" was (not his exact words, but the general idea). I thought this was a wonderful way for him to get an idea of my general mental status. I'll go back again tomorrow for a CAT scan and conference with the nurse for instructions and information on all that will be done. On Friday, I'll go back again for what they call a "dry run", which is to get everything lined up, appointments made, and marks made on the breast to direct the x-ray placement. This will go for 28 regular treatments - 5 days a week - then another 6 treatments with radiation directly to the tumor site. He said I might be fatigued, and have some redness in the local area, but otherwise probably have no bad side effects.

On Thursday, I'll go to see the medical oncologist, to get into his care system. The radiologist said because the tumor was small and caught early, I'll probably be put on Arimidex. I'm in the process of weaning myself off of the Premarin therapy, with no apparent effects so far - I'm down to every 4th day now.

And so now we're off on the slower part of this journey.