Back from New Orleans
Sarah & I returned from New Orleans late last night. From everything we saw, ignore the reports on TV about violence and other craziness. We had a fine time visiting the French Quarter, ate some beignets at Cafe du Monde, and walked/drove around the Garden District, where our hotel and the doctor’s office was located. I think it’s fair to say that New Orleans has never had a reputation for being a “clean” city, so the hurricane damage was hardly noticeable to us. Looked like the trolley lines had simply been abandoned and they were in the midst of a remodeling boom. We didn’t venture out much, so I’m sure there are still places that are devastated. It was also easy to tell that the residents were still struggling with remaking their city and their lives.
As for the doctoring, we met with an oncologist from LSU on Monday afternoon late. He has over 20 years of experience dealing with carcinoid and would be considered among the nation’s experts on the subject, I’d have to think. He reviewed Sarah’s files and scans and then offered his assessment and treatment opinions. He does not believe Sarah is a candidate for surgery at this time, based on the amount of carcinoid in her liver. He suggests treating as aggressively as possible, with the goal of slowing and debulking the tumors to the point where surgery is an option.
His specific recommendation was to begin chemoembolization* as soon as possible. (*See below for what that means). We’ve already had informal talks with our local oncologist about that and will likely pursue that treatment at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. It would be a 3-4 time thing, with 6-8 weeks between them. The LSU doc also suggested some slight modifications to the injections and CT scans Sarah has scheduled. Our local physician agreed with those recommendations and we’re going ahead there. We also are still expecting to hear back from the physician at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and will visit there if he feels that would be beneficial. (And if the flood waters go down and it stops raining. Proof that worrying about the weather possibilities is silly — going to New Orleans instead of Baltimore and rain hits the Northeast. Hey, network newscasters, the rest of the country doesn’t care that it’s raining a lot in the Northeast. Where do you think that rain was last week? It rains hard here too, we just don’t put it on your evening news every night.)
Generally, it’s a happy time of year. Sarah & I got to see old friends and their 3-year old daughter in New Orleans. Birthday parties like crazy this weekend, two Independence Day parties we’re hitting, good friends in town right after that, and to Columbus, Ohio, for friends’ wedding late in July.
After this, I’ll probably quit on the updates for a while. Unless I think of something funny to say. We don’t expect significant new news in the next 2 weeks or so, so not hearing from me simply means you haven’t heard from me. Huh?
In World Cup news, Ronaldo may be fat, but he still scores goals. The US doesn’t score goals so has gone home to get fat. MU football will be fat with victories this fall. Mizzou basketball will force the fat cats to stand and cheer from their fancy seats. (and KU’s football coach is fat.) Two other important lessons learned or reiterated, when you’re lost, driving faster will get you loster; and ku sucks.
Hope all is well for you and yours. Happy July 4th (and June 28th),
Jason