A Day of Remembrance

NYC was subdued yesterday. The traffic at the tunnel was light but the cross town traffic was pretty bad. I could not help myself but to stare at the Empire State Building as we drove by on 34th Street. There were NYC policemen and women everywhere and I had to believe it was a difficult day for them to be working the streets and scanning the skies.

My day started nicely; my mom was my chemo buddy for the day. She presented me with the "Ford Cares Warrior Scarf" to take with me as the doctor's office tends to always be cold. The chemo office was also quiet as Dr. Oratz was away but I was done quickly, as I only received Taxol.

From chemo we walked over to the NYU Cancer Care Center for my appointment with the head of radiation oncology there, Dr. Silvia Formenti. The good news is I qualify for three weeks of treatment instead of six and the even better news is a will participate in a trial that will allow them to do two CAT scans of me prior to starting therapy one while laying on my back, the other while on my stomach and this will allow them to measure precisely - measure what you might ask - measure how much of my heart and lungs fall away from the field to be radiated based on my positioning. (You may recall, my cancer was found on my left side) The very cool thing is this trial is being funded by COACH, so it is of course one I want to be in on even though the doctor advised no bags would be forthcoming! Was glad my mom was there to hear the doctor explain my options, as well she (my mom) had just seen Dr. Formenti speak on TV last weekend on a show talking about the Race for Cure. I was sold!

So I start radiation late October and should be done prior to Thanksgiving. I will have much to be thankful for this year!