Oncology 102

Hi all - Our drive to Buffalo was a beautiful one - we hit the city just at nightfall but on the way were treated to some SPECTACULAR sites including a beautiful sunset. The place we stayed at (Adams Mark) was less than 2 miles from the hospital so we settled in by having chinese food delivered and watching a pay-per-view movie (The Holiday) which we both really enjoyed.

At 8am we headed to the hospital What a HUGE place. We arrived with more than enough time to find parking and walk to the hospital. On the way in we saw that they offer "Valet" parking at no additional fee - they take your car at the door and park it for you - What a nice service.

Inside I stood in a line for awhile and then got a buzzer thingy (like at Applebees or Outback Steakhouse) and sat a while longer. We had been told that our appointment was at 9 - it was really at 10 - and that was the intake appointment. We were scheduled to see the Doctor (Janarthanan) at 10:30. Well - the bigger the hospital - the bigger the wait. We finally saw him at 12:45. Once we were with him I understood, though, how he could get behind.

He was very very patient and went over every detail in my file - asking me questions about how I found the problem, how it got diagnosed, etc. And then he told us that the kind of cancer I have is "Textbook" for women under 50. He said that women presenting with Breast Cancer under 50 ALL have aggressive, fast growing, non-hormone receptive cancers. He complimented Dr Shaikh's surgical skill - saying that he must do a lot of breast surgery because my incisions were both very artfully placed and cleanly done. I told him that Louise was disguised as a leprachan for St Patty's day (as she is still very green) and he thought that was pretty funny. He was a very honest and caring man and we both liked him tremendously.

He then went through the treatment plan - which was very nearly exact to Dr Welt's in Corning and then he told us that he felt it would be simply not necessary for me to get my treatment at Roswell - that Corning was an excellent facility and had extremely qualified doctors and they would be able to treat my cancer very successfully there. He also said that he would write up his notes and send them to Dr Welt (with the slight differences in treatment plan outlined) and suggested that I meet with Dr Welt again soon as it's time to get my treatments started. So - I have another appointment with him on Thursday this week to go over some of the differences, schedule my port insertion, and have my heart test. He also suggested that I get clearance from Dr Shaikh that I am ready to start the chemo. I will try to see him early next week as he is on vacation.

We feel very good about this news - it will make my treatment much easier - less travel and stress. I am - however - going back to Roswell in about 6 months to have some genetic testing done because of my family history. This will include blood testing, MRI, bone scan and other tests. This will be helpful to everyone in the Hunter family (as it seems that's what side has the most cases of cancer) and all of our children/grandchildren.

I'm off to Washington DC to do a big demo - I'll post more on Thursday after I see Dr. Welt again.

Love to all of you :)