¡Ay Caramba!

Portugese graffiti ("Day of the Living")

Today I had a somewhat painful exam (because of scar tissue) in Santa Clara with Subir Nag, the doctor who did all the internal radiotherapy. The first thing he said was, beautiful, good. Because my tumor is gone. He said that it was a large tumor, and he has no doubt that it has completely vanished. I don't know exactly what this means in terms of the future but it would seem to be another, more significant best case scenario.

When I first met him in January he had told me that he was sure he could get rid of the tumor, which was far and away the boldest statement any doctor had made at that time, or since. I thought, "We'll see." (Hope and fear must be managed!)

He said doctors have different styles, some rely totally on scans etc, but he relies on how it feels. He said I could get the PET scan, wouldn't hurt, but no more information would be revealed from it, and it would not effect future treatment plans.  Bless his cotton socks! He has felt and treated thousands of tumors. He said this week he had treated cancer in eye, prostate, and ovaries...

Lake County resident

He had been concerned that the tumor was so deep that once it was gone I might need surgery to patch things back together. Surgery might still  be necessary in the future. For the next year or so, scarring from radiation is a risk. (I have no idea why scarring continues for so long after treatment.) For example, my urethra could become blocked by scar tissue and would need to be surgically stretched open again. Also, the vag could shut down as it were, so that sex would not be possible, or just painful. There are things I can do to help reduce this possibility, but nothing much to be done about the urethra as far as I know.

Padmatara and I couldn't quite get our minds around this news...we went for veggie burgers and pinot grigio at the Beach Chalet. The water was super choppy, incredibly cold wind out there today...we watched para sailers zooming by...

For those of you who are local, I'll be at The Lone Palm tomorrow (Friday) 6-7pm if you'd like to join me for a celebratory beverage. (22nd/Guerrero)

Questions for Dr Tavakoli

Am I done with treatment for...at least a while?