How liberating it felt to go to Roswell Park Cancer
Institute on a Wednesday and not report to the chemotherapy department. This
time it was up to the second floor for a CT scan.
That involved fasting
until I got there at 1:30 p.m., a drink of a cold berry-flavored prep solution,
then waiting. Once I finally got called in to the radiologist, there was an infusion
of dye into my veins, which produced a tingle from my head to my groin; and
then a couple trips into the doughnut hole of the CT machine.
Mine was the last CT
scan of the day and, subsequently, I was the last patient of the day for the
urologist, the dapper Dr. Saby George, who said this would probably be the last
time we see each other. He said he looked at the CT scans and saw no cancer.
For the moment, I am cancer-free. Only about 33 percent of his patients reach
this, he added.
Nevertheless, the
bladder will have to go. The cancer had invaded the muscle wall and it has a
high chance of recurring. If it did, Dr. George noted, there’s a chance that
chemotherapy won’t be as effective the second time around. So the next step is
the consultation with the surgeon, Dr. Guru, on Friday. I have many questions.
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