First Opinion...Kidney Check....

Hello everyone!

Thank you all so much for your beautiful, amazing and wonderful comments. I hold you all so close to my heart and draw strength from you every day.

Mark, Maria and I met with my gynecological oncologist on Tuesday to discuss chemo options. He stated to us that in these situations, patients choose between 2 options: 1-fight the cancer with every bit of energy you have until the very last moment enduring all of side effects and negative effects that come from all of the medications. Or 2-decide to follow a pain management program and "travel the world". Our doctor encouraged us to think about what we wanted to do as this is a very personal decision and was respectful and kind-hearted about what we would decide.

Despite the novelty of traveling the world during my last days on earth, we are picking door #1.....FIGHT......no matter how sick and weak it makes me. Also, we are planning for a second and third opinion next week. The tentative plan is to start chemotherapy again on November 4th (yes, I will vote and then get the poison). It is a 6 month treatment plan with the drug Topotecan where I will have it once per week for 3 weeks, have the 4th week off and repeat the cycle 6 times. We were told that after the 2nd or 3rd cycle, we can check to see if it is working through a CT scan or PET scan. At that point, we would continue with the same plan or explore other drugs.

On Friday, I had an appointment with an amazing doctor, the urologist to discuss the hydronephrosis of my kidney. Julie, my sister in law, accompanied me to the appointment where the doctor did an ultrasound of my bladder and recommended a procedure to put a stint into my kidney to help it drain effectively. We scheduled the procedure for Monday at 11am. He also put me on antibiotics for a bladder infection. The procedure went well and I have a stint from my kidney to my bladder that helps to drain the urine from my kidney. Today, I am feeling tired but am resting on the couch with Marnie, catching up on my TV shows.

So, during the procedure, they found a hole in the top of my bladder that is causing a fistula. A fistula basically is "communication" between urine, feces and the vaginal wall. So, I have the wonderful opportunity to wear depends...yes, depends, those "diapers for adults" that we think of when we think of nursing homes. That's my world! Right now, this is not an emergency and there is not a serious risk of an infection although I will stay on antibiotics. The priority now, according to the doctors, is chemotherapy. So, we will tackle more of this issue and I will keep you all updated later.

Love, Hugs and Good Health!!!