xhac (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} xhac) wrote,@ 2007-12-23 13:03:00 |
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lousy options
[recreation]
Hi Anthony. We, your doctors, decided that we should do this in person, instead of on the telephone.
You are 90% through your radiation treatment so here are your choices:
- You can have a major surgery in which half your pelvis is going to be removed and your sciatic nerve is going to be severed (it wasn't working well anyway), leaving you with no movement/feeling below your ankle. Also there might be some risk of other nerve damage, affecting bladder/colon control. A followup surgery will replace the missing pelvis with an unspecified substitute (meanwhile your leg will be "unsupported").
- You can continue with radiation, in which case you have a "non-zero" (later 40% and later still "too difficult to estimate") chance of controlling the tumor. In this case surgery becomes very risky/impossible for the next 6 weeks and after that will have a 30-40% chance of developing major complications. In other words the best time to have the surgery is now. After radiation we will monitor your tumor and if it starts to grow again we're going to "salvage surgery".
You have 30 minutes to decide. BTW I, your surgeon got to go midquestion, so talk it over with your radiologist.
[/recreation]
This cute little tidbit took place on Monday. I decided to continue with radiation (because, in my understanding, both doctors winked at me to take this option), which was very frustrating for my family, who apparently didn't like any option and would prefer for me to get magically better. In case I didn't communicate the stressful nature of the situation (i.e having to decide something so major in so little time), my sister _and_ my radiation oncologist were openly crying and my mother, who had no idea what was going on because she didn't speak the language, was in an mildly hysterical state of seeking information.
After a case of "broken telephone" my relatives in the US arranged another meeting with the doctors on Thursday, one day before the end of my radiation treatments. Fortunately (and understandably) the doctors were now semi-openly supporting my decision by understating the risks and overstating the rewards, since it would be stupid to change our minds now. Everybody was happy after that.
Now my treatments are over. I'm probably starting chemo next week. Half of my butt is completely red and is expected to start pealing soon. They gave me a cream for that.
[recreation]
Hi Anthony. We, your doctors, decided that we should do this in person, instead of on the telephone.
You are 90% through your radiation treatment so here are your choices:
- You can have a major surgery in which half your pelvis is going to be removed and your sciatic nerve is going to be severed (it wasn't working well anyway), leaving you with no movement/feeling below your ankle. Also there might be some risk of other nerve damage, affecting bladder/colon control. A followup surgery will replace the missing pelvis with an unspecified substitute (meanwhile your leg will be "unsupported").
- You can continue with radiation, in which case you have a "non-zero" (later 40% and later still "too difficult to estimate") chance of controlling the tumor. In this case surgery becomes very risky/impossible for the next 6 weeks and after that will have a 30-40% chance of developing major complications. In other words the best time to have the surgery is now. After radiation we will monitor your tumor and if it starts to grow again we're going to "salvage surgery".
You have 30 minutes to decide. BTW I, your surgeon got to go midquestion, so talk it over with your radiologist.
[/recreation]
This cute little tidbit took place on Monday. I decided to continue with radiation (because, in my understanding, both doctors winked at me to take this option), which was very frustrating for my family, who apparently didn't like any option and would prefer for me to get magically better. In case I didn't communicate the stressful nature of the situation (i.e having to decide something so major in so little time), my sister _and_ my radiation oncologist were openly crying and my mother, who had no idea what was going on because she didn't speak the language, was in an mildly hysterical state of seeking information.
After a case of "broken telephone" my relatives in the US arranged another meeting with the doctors on Thursday, one day before the end of my radiation treatments. Fortunately (and understandably) the doctors were now semi-openly supporting my decision by understating the risks and overstating the rewards, since it would be stupid to change our minds now. Everybody was happy after that.
Now my treatments are over. I'm probably starting chemo next week. Half of my butt is completely red and is expected to start pealing soon. They gave me a cream for that.
Mood: decisive
