MD Anderson Trip - Read to the end! 5-26-23
We have had a bit of downtime so far in Houston. He had blood work early Wednesday morning, and then we went to a Space Cowboys (minor league baseball) game Wednesday night. One observation I have made is life is better with experiences. We spent more on our Lyft ride round trip to the Space Cowboys game than on the tickets, and we said, "So what!" I am proud that our Hartford Yard Goats games are much better attended than the Space Cowboys games.
Thursday, we had an appointment with a surgeon at 11:30. He has a much different approach to the liver than MSK, which we appreciated. MD Anderson also has two peritoneal surgeons who specialize in peritoneal metastasis from colorectal cancer. That means if MD Anderson did Zach's liver resection and found more peritoneal cancer (cancer in the lining of your abdomen), they would cut it out. His most recent CT scan showed no evidence of peritoneal disease, but sometimes it can be so small it doesn't show up on a scan.
They also want to see systemic chemo work a bit better to stabilize cancer growth or see it decrease before they go in and do surgery, as he would need to be off chemo for three months, and you don't want to see anything popping up. The surgeon ordered an MRI to get a better look. Unfortunately, we couldn't get insurance to approve that quickly, so he will be getting that done back in CT, and we'll send the images to MD Anderson for them to read.
The surgeon we spoke to was able to answer all of our questions and gave us honest feedback. We now have some big decisions to make, and we will continue seeking other opinions from Cleveland Clinic and possibly Dana Farber in Boston.
I am still feeling at peace about closing the studio in August. It feels like the right decision, especially if we end up transferring Zach's care to one of these out-of-state cancer centers. Transferring his care doesn't mean moving; it would mean a bit more travel. Zach would still get his standard-of-care chemo infusions like he is now through the Avon infusion center, but surgery would happen elsewhere.
We are continuing to pray for discernment with all these big decisions coming up. We are so grateful to you all. Thank you for your support, and prayers, and those who have reached out to help financially with the extra travel we are doing now.
-Amber
P.S. We had Thai food last night, and I ordered Pad Thai (with mild spice), and my mouth was on FIRE. I am sure our waiter talked about me in the kitchen and told them I wasn't handling the spice well. So he came out with a no-spice Pad Thai. I will never order anything with spice at a Thai restaurant again because I can't handle it! Then we walked back and watched a massive group of people riding bikes and listening to music. It was a good day!
Hi all!
Amber has encouraged me to be part of these posts, so I'll start including my own sections at the bottom.
I want to start by thanking everyone for their interest, generosity, and care for our family during the last few months. There are plenty of emotional aspects to this whole process (I think Amber and I have already met our lifetime deductible for out-of-nowhere crying), but chief among them is the emotion that comes from people reaching out to see how things are going. The outpouring of genuine care has been humbling and a huge source of joy for our family.
The decision to seek additional opinions has felt proactive, but it also comes with more decision-making, as Amber mentioned above. Those decisions tend to feel either empowering or overwhelming, depending on the day. But the trip to Houston has definitely been a productive one, and I'm glad we met a new set of doctors. It's remarkable how different the methodology and approach can be from one cancer center to the next, and getting comfortable with "shopping" between those different approaches has been a process for us.
I really hope to get back to the office at some point -- I miss seeing people in person, and Zoom isn't quite the same. But in the meantime, if you're playing golf in the greater Hartford area and don't mind me walking along with you and providing colorful commentary on errant shots, I'd be very into that.
-Zach
