Stanford oncologist visit

Hi all,
Here’s an update on our visit this week with oncologist Dr. Heather Wakelee at Stanford. Showed up at 9:30 a.m., and didn’t leave until 2 p.m. – quite a day. The doctor remains hopeful and told me I need a PET scan ASAP to identify whether anything has spread beyond the original tumor, since the cells are showing to be an especially aggressive form of cancer. No way to type the stage of cancer without this PET scan. Her goal is to have me start chemo next week – no more waiting.

Dr. Wakelee strongly urged me to get my chemo treatments here in Sac, based on the fact that her recommended chemo formula (three different drugs administered through an IV once a week for three weeks on/one week off, for the next three months – typically given for breast cancer) is especially difficult and they don’t want me to have to endure the known side effects along with the lengthy commute. The plan is to return to Stanford for surgery to remove the tumor once my initial chemo has been completed.

No matter what, Josh and I plan to continue utilizing Stanford as a great source of support and strength. Their patient support manager assures us that we are still part of “the Stanford family” and helped us find some great books from their resource library to share with our kids about what’s going on with Mommy.

I have contacted my Sacramento oncologist Dr. Blair to request an expedited PET scan. Still not sure if I’ll be staying with Dr. Blair (in the Mercy group) or transition over to Dr. Wakelee’s colleagues at UC Davis (she has made contact with this group on my behalf) until I finally go back to Stanford for surgery. It all depends on whether Dr. Wakelee’s UCD colleagues are accepting new patients and how soon they could bring me on. Of course, this also has to be handled with the insurance companies. We were told that my visit to Stanford this week would cost $800 – pending insurance approvals – so keeping our fingers crossed for this.

That’s all for now. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Will keep you posted on the next stage of the journey.

Much love to you all,
Angela