As Dad said on one of his good days (ever decreasing in frequency), I’ll have a hairy christmas.  That was back when it seemed far-fetched -  but now it’s fer sher.  

 

Meanwhile, Dad, while still very hairy, is not well and no one knows what’s the matter with him.  He has no appetite and persistent nausea, and he’s losing weight by the bucketful.  It’s scary and depressing, and he’s such a beautiful strong admirable man to see him miserable is heart-wrenching.  We’ve theorized and troubleshooted (troubleshot?) with Dr.’s, nurses, and personal care attendants, to no avail.  He lies in bed day after day, his forehead crinkled with nausea, declining offers of food and drink.  Next to him I am a healthy bull.  Mother is holding up well, but the last time we talked she sounded a little dissociated and tired.

 

I started Tamoxifen last week after a very good visit with my new FEMALE oncologist, Irene Kuter.  The Tamoxifen apparently prevents the estrogen from abetting the cancers.  

 

I have three weeks left of radiation.  My radiation onc. is Dr. Taghian, whom Kuter describes as an “honorary woman”, an apt description for someone so caring and kind as he.  When I  told him my Dad was a paraplegic and in the hospital it seemed almost to bring tears to his eyes and he touched my arm, asked me when was the injury, and expressed sincere sorrow.  I don’t know how someone so sensitive can work with cancer patients.  Anyway, last week he announced proudly that my case had been presented by his resident, Neil, at a conference.  This week he told me the research fellow, Kevin Kosak, was writing a paper about me.  

 

The reason for all the hype has to do with the fact that when I came in for my radiation planning, there was considerable concern over the fact that my heart was large (due to exercise) and pressing against the chest wall, directly within target range of the radiation.  They had to do something to reduce the assault to my heart.  

 

First they had my plastic surgeon reduce the size of the tissue expander, that was apparently pushing in my chest wall.  Then they asked me to hold my breath during the radiation.  If I breathed in deeply enough, into my belly, the diaphragm would drop and pull the heart with it, out of range of the radiation.  Subsequent x-rays showed the combined measures worked incredibly well.  I saw them myself, and  it’s true.  My heart was no where to be found in the cross section x-ray of the area that is being irradiated (or “microwaved” as João likes to call it).

 

So ..so far so good as far as radiation is concerned.