Medical stuff – treatments, outcomes, Dr visits
Yesterday was Suzanne’s scheduled follow-up for the PATHway clinical trial that she has been involved with. Not sure if we would be traveling to Rush this often if she hadn’t been in the trial, but either way, it’s good to know just how everything is. On a cloudy, rainy, and dreary day, the tops of the Chicago skyscrapers wern’t visible. We arrived at Rush around 8:00 am and were out by 11:30 am. Except for the waiting, today’s appointments were…
It’s hard to believe that it has been two years since Suzanne’s life-saving / altering surgery, and one year since she finished her clinical trial. For those of you who are new, Suzanne chose to participate in a clinical trial after her cancer surgery. The trial is called PATHway, used a drug called KYTRUDA and she will have follow-up appointments for one more year. This visit was her first to the new Rush Medical Center cancer facility on campus, the…
Since Suzanne’s diagnosis 735 days ago, my total focus has been on her health. Setting up appointments, driving her anywhere she needed to be, additional ears to be sure what has been said, sitting with her through treatments, and doing what I can to be sure she was getting the best care possible. It has been a long road and yesterday that road took a turn, it was my turn. Let me set the stage. When we went to Las…
Well, it’s that time, time to travel to Chicago and have Suzanne’s quarterly checkup. As you remember, a part of her clinical trial is to have scans and meet with her oncologist every three months for two years. This time, our appointments were a little later than usual, 9:00 am. It used to be that getting to Rush that early in the morning meant that the majority of Chicago rush hour would be over. During the last six to eight…
We had a wonderful fall season, traveling east to New York, harvesting the garden’s bounty, and meeting a great-grandson for the first time. Yep, our fall was going pretty smoothly until the other night. In a dead sleep at about 1:00 am I was awakened by the words “John, help”, followed by the distinctive sound of full body weight falling lifeless to the ground. Rushing to the bathroom I turned on the light to see Suzanne laying on the floor….
Suzanne’s 2nd follow-up visit at Rush after completing the PATHway clinical trial.
Wednesday was quite the day. When we left home, Google indicated a longer drive than normal and before we even got to I-94 Dan Ryan, Google had us get off the interstate and drive straight north through the streets of south Chicago all the way to Rush. First time since we started going to Rush that this happened. Next up, accessing her port for her CT. Since we were running a little late, our tensions were high. It had already…
Done, finished, complete, caput, concluded, through, all over, a wrap, terminado, vollendet, законченный, 終えた, THE END Suzanne was so ready for this day. Despite all the hope this clinical trial provides her, trips to Chicago every three weeks for this past year has been a life-controlling event. After blood work and the waiting game for results, her appointment with her oncologist was finally called. He has been a little pessimistic the last few months so when he came in happy…
You know how repetitive activities or events in our lives become so automatic? The morning bathroom routine, Getting the kids off to school, Going to church, and The family Thanksgiving get-together, all seem to happen without a lot of thought or planning. That’s what Suzanne’s PATHway trial has become, routine, and it’s about to end. Yesterday was treatment number eighteen with one more to go. It’s hard to believe that it all started a year ago when my astronaut wife…
Able to sleep in this morning, we made a quick stop by the Bank to take out a loan to fill the car with gas and be on the road again. Today was more of a shopping trip than the typical cancer patient hospital visit. We checked in and before we even sat down, Suzanne was called to have her vitals taken and blood drawn. Knowing that we had about two hours before her infusion, off we went on our…