Am I staying?

Today was my appointment with the PA and Chemo.  We packed and planned as if we were going through with Chemo even though we were trying our hardest to get a well deserved break from Chemo.   Physically and mentally I need some time to live a bit normal.  

While visiting with the PA we went over the scan results ( refer to the last post if you didn't hear about this) which was good news.  We quickly shifted the discussion to ask, is the tumor shrinking toward or away from the Portal Vein? Is Doc bringing my case to the tumor board to discuss surgical options?  The next question was can we have this Chemo break over the next 2 treatment days (today and Dec 21)?  Our PA wrote everything down and didn't have a lot to say other than "Let me step out and check with your doc and I'll be back"

So what was several minutes but seemed like an eternity, Leah and I waited in the exam room together with no distractions.  When the PA came back in she said, "I was not presented to the tumor board today." so, Doc will present my case before them next Thursday.  All GI Oncology Docs are present in this tumor board as are Surgical Oncology Doctors. They will discuss me as it pertains to treatment/ surgery. I should hear back from my Doc Thursday or Friday next week.  In regards to how the tumor is shrinking, the Doctor said surgeons have amazing methods to see how it is postioned relative to the Portal Vein.  All that to say is it is really up to surgeons to determine where the tumor is positioned and if that leads to a possible surgery.

Per the Chemo break my PA said, he reacted in the manner of "a month?".  We/she did enough convincing that neither my current or new Oncologist said, "No" to the break.  So the next treatment is scheduled on Jan 4.  We should know more about any surgical options by then and if we are planning on surgery we would need to hold one of the medications I recieve during treatment.  So from that perspective this is good pre planning.

I just need more than 1 week (consecutively) that I can live life normal and have a relatively "normal" amout of energy.  I'm thankful I'll be able to see family during the Christmas season (and remember it).

Until I have more news next week...

~Kent