About three months ago I decided to pay my primary doctor a visit. I have quarterly appointments with him anyway, but pain in my left side, which I had been experiencing over a period of time, had intensified.
The over the counter medication I had been taking simply didn’t seem to be doing the job, even after I had checked with my pharmacist who suggested I double up on it. He told me how much I could take without causing any problems, but that still wasn’t working.
The doctor and I talked extensively about it, and once I got on his examination table he began feeling around on my belly. There were two areas that were so tender that I squirmed on the table.
He decided to order some labs run and told me since I was so tender in a couple of spots he was also going to schedule a CT scan.
About a week later I went one morning for the CT scan. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that date. It was May 7, four days following my birthday.
Once the CT scan was completed, the technician who had conducted it, informed me it would be a couple of days before my doctor would be sent the results. I told her fine, I was anxious to know what they were.
I went on a Wednesday for the scan, so I figured it would be Friday before I heard anything.
A little after 5 the same evening of the day I had gone for the scan, my cell phone rang. I noticed it said Shawnee Physicians Clinic on it.. On the other end to my surprise was my primary doctor, Dr. Holland. He informed me he had the results from that morning’s scan and they were not good.
He described what the scan showed and advised me he had some openings for appointments the next day, and wanted to know if I come in and go over them. I told him of course I could.
After I got off the phone with him, and Pat had heard the conversation, she broke down bawling. In December our daughter Meghan had a malignant brain tumor the size of an orange removed and she has stage 4 brain cancer. She has been through radiation and two rounds of chemo.
So Pat and I have been focused on her recovery since that time.
So I scheduled an appointment for early the next afternoon so my wife Pat and I went and sat down with Dr. Holland.
On the CT scan he pointed out, and we could clearly see, especially one large spot on the liver and what appeared to be a couple of more smaller ones.
He made an appointment for me with my oncologist who I had been seeing a couple of years already since I’ve been anemic for at least that long. He also told me he was scheduling a PET scan for me which I would go to the day before I was seeing my oncologist.
So I I went and had the PET scan done, then had my appointment with the oncologist the next day.
Dr. Chohan is my oncologist, we discussed the two scans and she also ordered some additional labs.
She also advised me and Pat she was going to have a needle biopsy done, which would be at a companion facility in downtown Oklahoma City and that we would be contacted about that and it would be scheduled.
I had that done on May 29 and met again with the oncologist June 3. Results of the needle biopsy confirmed it’s what they call metastatic pancreatic carcinoma.
When we met with the oncologist June 3 she told us she now knew for sure what we were dealing with and started me on chemotherapy. By the time people read this, I will have completed my second three session segment of chemo and in two weeks I am scheduled to begin my third.
I remind Pat that I want our focus to remain on Meghan and her recovery, though I, of course, hope to improve as well.
I’ve been fortunate so far as I try to recover.