Chemotherapy - Round Two

The first time we were in the treatment room at Maryland Oncology we were both on the verge of tears. It helps that the practice has been moved to a beautiful new building, the room is larger, the windows are larger, and the exposure is southward. Today was cloudless so the room was far to the sunny side on the Cheery-Gloomy scale. There was an abundant feeling of being back with a staff that was warm and welcoming, who picked up the relationship where they had left off six months ago.

Day one of Faina's first three week cycle is the longest. It involves a hydration drip and the three chemical coctail that wages warfare against whatever cancer may lurk beyond detection. Over the course of the five hours, people come and go, men, women, elders, middle aged, all variety of cancers, different stages in their treatment, some heads covered with scarves or wigs, and a few bold, bald pates.

The first time we were in this place, almost a year ago, we felt like we had entered a Dante-esque lower circle. We quickly came to see it as a life giving, place of hope, another piece of the picture puzzle supporting the climb up out of a deep hole.

Faina spent most of the hours surfing the internet looking for cats, searching for a feline companion for the most recent animal to our home Toby, the Russian Blue. Over the last year we have gone from being dog people to cat fanciers. Dogs, are known for their tenacity, their readiness to work until the last gasp. Cats, curious, quiet, mysterious, and for their nine lives. The inspiration for Toby's name, after weeks of various tries to find a good fit, came from our clothes steamer, Tobi. The name Toby is related etymologically to Tobias and Tuviya, meaning "God is Good." From Faina, the devout athiest, it is a certain affirmation for the view, there are no coincidences. Onward!

Cycling Around

Immediately after Faina's surgery on August 12 and the results of testing were in, a new question arose, "Should Faina go through the post-operative three cycles of chemotherapy?" Dr. Schulick, the surgeon, thought not, after all he cut out the cancer. Her oncologist, Dr. Koutrelakos, similarly advised, "No, there are no signs of cancer." Dr. Gelmann at Columbia-Presbyterian and Dr. Meng at Sloan-Kettering said, "Yes ... that is the protocol." Complications from surgery, most notably the fistula, rendered any serious consideration of further chemotherapy more an academic exercise than anything else. Now, with that obstacle out of the way, the question became, once again, a viable challenge.

After weeks of physician appointments, emails, research, and a wide range of advisors; with physicians consulting physicians; the professionals left the decision up to Faina. Dr. Bui, a radiation oncologist and professor at University of Maryland, Greenebaum Cancer Center, proposed that radiation would not be needed, but that going ahead with chemo would at minimum do no harm (given her history of tolerating the treatment), could be beneficial, and should the cancer reoccur she would not have the lingering doubt that she had not done everything she could have to prevent it. That was the confirmation Faina needed as that was her inclination all along.

The three three-week cycles begin on Tuesday.