AMY IS ON THE POST DOCTORATE DIET

We had a really bizarre visit to the doctors at Johns Hopkins today. My oncologist is at Georgetown Hosp in DC, but I consult the oncologists at Hopkins where I had my second surgery. First we saw the oncologist, who talked about various options, depending on whether the tumor is increasing, shrinking, or stable as he put it. Also, I asked about a lab that does genetic sequencing of colon tumors, in case I need to stun my cancer with something new (and untried.)

Then we saw my surgeon. He looked at the CD of my CAT scans and said, I don't see the tumor, I don't know what they're talking about. So Dave and I just laughed. WTF! I don't actually believe this new piece of happiness, because a similar thing happened way back in January when a surgeon at Georgetown looked at the scans of my colon tumor and said, it's not cancer, it's diverticulitis. (I jumped across the desk to shake his hand, and sent him a huge bouquet of chocolate covereds). Today when the surgeon said there's no tumor, we said, oh that would be nice! The doc decided he'll ask a radiologist to read the scans. hmm, but the radiologist who already read the scans at Georgetown said, it's a tumor.

okay, so Donovan? first there is a tumor then there is no tumor then there is.

i just can't take this seriously, but we did feel very happy for awhile and decided to eat Greek food, which was very good.

After we got home, I realized that my scans are on 2 CDs, each with its own data. maybe my doc thought they were identical CDs and only looked at the one with no tumor on it. or maybe he was listening to an Alanis Morissette CD.

or maybe I don't have a tumor but I have something that looks a lot like a tumor, if you're looking for one....

first there is a tumor, then there is no tumor..

I'm still on Plan A. I have to do one more round of chemo before they scan me again. and then I'll know if i have a tumor. and then I'll go to my doc at Georgetown and both docs at Hopkins and then we'll make a plan.
the gtown doc said i would probably stop chemo and have surgery.
the hopkins doc said i would probably stop chemo and have surgery.
the surgeon said i would finish chemo first, and then think about whether to have surgery.

then there is!

oi vey, do doctors know anything? other than the one or two things they're trained to know?

this is the one time i probably won't lose any sleep about what the doctors said!!!

THE POST-DOCTORATE DIET:

BREAKFAST: raisin toast with cream cheese, espresso with hot milk, toast with blackberry jam
SNACK: cafe au lait, large. danish pastry, packaged. ginger cookies. nausea.
DINNER:
Avgolemono Soup
Traditional Greek Salad with famous house dressing (are you eating your peperoncini?)
Souvlaki on a Stick: lamb stick, served with pita wedges
Combination Pekilia Platter, greek souvlaki stick, gyro, spanakopita, domades, oven roasted potatoes, and tzatziki
gigantic: 48 oz glasses of ice water

dessert: 45 miles of highway, listening to npr until we heard english accents. then, real jazz, XM

snack: fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.
beverage: pineapple juice.

late snack: bananas and cream