The MRI was scheduled for Wednesday morning. If you’ve never had one, imagine laying very still in a tube with headphones on that mute, but don’t completely block out, the Japanese noise-rock band living next door. A preoperative meeting was scheduled for Friday morning and the radiation simulation was still on the calendar for Friday afternoon, just in case. And we had a tentative surgery date – Wednesday, March 24th. All of this was dependent on the MRI results, a CD copy of which I delivered from Union to Hopkins as soon as a copy was burned.
The three doctors needed to confab at something called The Tumor Board about the results let us know their prognosis, hopefully before Friday to save on doing a simulation setup that may not be used and to save Lisa and I from yet another day of uncertainty.
The radiation oncologist – the scrapper – called Thursday evening. The MRI showed the lymph nodes were clear. The doctors thought the risk of not doing radiation/chemo was worth it.
Long-term game plan IV:
- Surgery to remove the tumor on 3/24.
- Ileostomy and “bag” for 3 months.
- Reversal of ileostomy and recovery.