Second Opinion!

It’s amazing what kind of attention those two words can generate.

Early today I had told Beth of the Radiation Oncology side of the VLCC that I was going to wait until after my vacation to schedule any radiation treatments for my hip. The doc is going on vacation next week so the only time I would have been able to see him was today. His partner, the doctor who didn’t know or who couldn’t tell me anything about my condition the last time the first doc was on vacation to Hawaii, was then recommended to see me to get me started on a course of radiation for my hip.

I declined.

I told you about my “hero,” Kathy, who went through all the different departments to generate the medical records that the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center would be interested in, including obtaining my PET Scans. She faxed HLMCC the info and left the CD at the VLCC for me to pick up before my appointment with Physical Therapy. When I stopped by to get it, “they” were ready for me.

I explained that I would be going to Florida on a vacation, and while I was there, I was going to take advantage of the reputation of the HLMCC to get a second opinion.

So why wasn’t I getting started on the radiation treatments?

First, I wanted to see what Physical Therapy had to say. Then, since my vacation was only 10 days away, I figured I didn’t need the hassle. Besides, there is the possibility that the indication of cancer in the hip joint is just a false positive.

OK, between you and me, who reads these scans anyway? Usually, it’s someone who has never spoken to me, someone who couldn’t tell me from Adam. Remember when they called me a 56-year-old FEMALE in the one x-ray report? They have no idea about the old injury, the fact that it was killing me the day of the scan, etc.

Before these scans they keep me in a bed in a quiet darkened room so the “special sugar” only goes to those areas that are actively needing the energy, like the cancer cells. My body, trying to heal tendonitis in my hip joint needed that sugar, too! Bad!

So Kate, one of my favorite nurses, BTW—ask the kids, she’s from Ireland—told me that there were “indications” of damage already occurring. She also said that just a couple of hits of radiation would help with the pain.

The funny thing is that the pain has lessened somewhat today. Using the darn crutches actually causes me to irritate the area; just plain walking carefully doesn’t.

So how was their sales job? Would you have bought into their plans?

Talking with Bridget, from the Physical Therapy department, she said, “I really don’t know what it is that they want me to do for you other than show you how to use the crutches, and you seem to have them down pretty good.” Or words to that effect.

So, she examined me a bit; we talked about what is going on with me, the problems to this point, the cancer, and even about Florida. She just got back a few days ago. She celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in a Cubano restaurante! :-D BTW, Amy, she knows of, or ate at that Brazilian restaurant with all the different types of meat! She just couldn’t remember the name.

She has cancer in her family; she’s seen what can happen. So we talked about the future for me, and the plans I have to beat this thing. She even gave me her card and voicemail number so I can let her know how I’m doing IN 7 MONTHS!

I liked this woman!

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This is my diary. I want to keep a record of what I’m doing here and accept the consequences for any bad choices. I’ve gone on record indicating that I think that the decision to employ radiation therapy on my left hip might not be as necessary as Conventional Medicine seems to make it. I may be wrong, but it was my choice, not theirs.

That brings me to my meds. I have gone on record before regarding the use of proton pump inhibitors, drugs like Prilosec and Protonix. They are meant to be used for a short period of time only, like 3 weeks. I’ve been on them for over 8 months. Constant use of these PPIs causes the body to eventually overcome the effect and the stomach starts to produce acid all over again. Irreversibly! It’s then a hyper-acidic condition and visits to your doctor then for the rest of your miserable life.

I wanted to prevent this. Using soda pop and orange juice for the acid content to help prevent the candida albicans (thrush) was also an excuse to get some acid in my stomach. But I wanted to stop using the drugs! So I talked to Dr. Himmy about it, and all he said was “So stop.”

I wanted to wait until I could set a baseline (thanks, Ben) for the pain level so I could keep track of what was going on. It looks like I won’t be able to do that. So, April 1, no joke, I gave up the Protonix.

It was kinda funny because late yesterday, the first day I was off the drugs, I was hungry! It was the first time that I wanted something to eat, at that intensity, in quite a while. This morning, when I woke up, I was hungry again!

Now, imagine how Protonix sales would go through the roof if folks were to find out that it is actually an appetite suppressant!

So, I’ll keep an eye on the pain levels (so to speak) and where the pains are and see if I can finally stay off the Protonix.

It should help with digestion, metabolizing my magnesium oxide pills, and a variety of other ills. So wish me luck!

Kunolunkwa, y te quiero!