Yes, the moron here is me. Yesterday, I had so much fun at my upper GI series that I came home, had lunch, went for a walk and treated myself to a yummy (expensive) coffee drink from Starbucks. I had successfully weaned myself off these for quite some time but decided I deserved a treat after yesterday's ordeal. I had a grande Skinny Dolce Cinnamon Latte but I forgot the magic word - DECAF! This was at about 2 pm yesterday. I never drink caffeine after lunch - my little rule. Well I was up half the night as a result. It is the only thing I can blame. I am a moron. I shall be tired and crabby today as a result. But at least I can eat.
So yesterday, I got myself to the crisper about 830 AM and was starving. They had TWO BIG boxes of donuts. I had willpower. I sniffed deeply as I walked by them (but did not inhale) and went off to my GI series. First they took x-rays (yes regular ordinary x-rays - I haven't had those in quite sometime) - the before pictures so to speak. Then they had me lie on a table that moves and tilts and drink a cup of fizzing soda and immediately drink some thick barium (looks like milk, tastes like crap) and they had me move around (roll right, no left, no back to the right) and watch it on a camera and take a series of photos (kind of like a photo shoot but they were of my insides and I think only black and white). Then I got to drink another entire glass of the lovely thin barium (also looks like milk, tastes like crap) and they took more pictures half an hour later. Then they took more pictures with a different machine to get my small intestine as well. I got quite the work out moving around on the table but otherwise, it wasn't very exciting. By the way, barium gives everyone a case of 'white lipstick'. Not only do you drink it but you wear it as well...
The big excitement is that they called yesterday to schedule my port removal! Unfortunately it isn't until the end of February and I think I even want to call back and reschedule it for the next day. But it is finally coming out! I am happy!
Otherwise, yesterday wasn't too interesting (I am using the word interesting instead of exciting - I overuse the word exciting). A friend stopped by in the afternoon. I went to my support group too. Today, I am off for a walk and then work before crisping. My last normal schedule this week. Tomorrow and Friday I run around like a crazed person all day (not that I am crazy...) so I should enjoy my relative normality while it lasts.
1 comment:
Very interesting article in today's New York Times about factors that influence treatment for breast cancer, and also lots of bright comments from readers. To quite the article a little bit:
The Sex of Your Surgeon May Matter
Whether a woman receives radiation treatment after breast cancer surgery may be influenced by the gender of her surgeon, according to a new report from The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The gender of your surgeon may impact your treatment. (Fred Conrad/The New York Times)
The study, from researchers at Columbia University, set out to determine why breast cancer treatment still varies among similar patients. In particular, they looked at radiation treatment given to women after lumpectomy. The treatment is considered a standard of quality cancer care and has been shown to reduce breast cancer recurrence and mortality. However, many women still don’t receive it.
Earlier studies have suggested that demographic characteristics influence whether a woman receives postsurgical radiation. A patient’s race, age and how far she lives from a radiation therapy facility all are factors that affect her chance of receiving the treatment.
But the latest report looked at the doctors behind the decisions. The researchers analyzed data on nearly 30,000 women aged 65 and older who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1991 and 2002 and who received lumpectomy. They also analyzed data on the 4,453 surgeons who operated on the women.
About one in four women were not treated with radiation after surgery. Older women, black women, unmarried women and those living outside urban areas were less likely to receive radiation. But after controlling for those factors as well as characteristics of each woman’s cancer, the Columbia researchers spotted other trends.
Women who received radiation were more likely to have a female surgeon. Women who were treated by more experienced surgeons were also more likely to receive radiation treatment, as were women treated by doctors trained in the United States.
Dr. Dawn L. Hershman, co-director of the breast program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, said it’s not clear why women treated by female surgeons were more likely to receive radiation. It may have to do with the nature of a woman’s relationship with her doctor or the doctor’s communication style.
“It’s important to figure out all the factors that can contribute to improving quality of care,’’ said Dr. Hershman. “There are many fantastic male surgeons….It shouldn’t be taken that every woman should be seen by a woman, but there are some contributing factors to this difference that we need to investigate further.'’
Post a Comment