Bookmark and Share

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Having Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma means frequent check ups.

I just had my 4th checkup with my head/neck surgeon, and my 3rd with my radiation oncologist, luckily falling on the same day. My radiation oncologist is on a 6 month schedule. He checks my head out for signs of the original or a new, different cancer appearing as a side effect of the radiation. Oh yeah, they say that on the release form you sign before you undergo the first treatment, like offering you a side order of cancer to go with your cancer (I think Cancer Vixen said that). The head/neck surgeon is on a more frequent schedule, every 3 months. While I would rather be a once a year type of gal, I told him that I would show up for the 4x a year only if he made sure I saw students and residents. I don't want to waste such an educational opportunity as this rare cancer offers, after all. Now if I could only find a bench scientist that is interested in discovering what makes this type of tumor tick...
The upshot was, neither of the doctors were pleased to hear that I have been having pain in my cheek again, so it is MRI time again. I am glad my eyes will be covered in the MRI tube - by now, I would have memorized any scratches or graffiti that the inside walls held. Maybe I will suggest that - each patient in the MRI tube can leave their name, like 'Kilroy was here', so the next patient can keep up with who has been in there last. At our last library book sale, I picked up a book that gives the history of the scientist that developed the MRI. I will let you know if there are any juicy parts to the book.

3 comments:

Dr. Lisa said...

Oooh,

Good luck iwth the MRI. Cancer in all of its forms is so annoying- every pain, bump means more tests. I thought of you Friday, because I had to have a mass on my cheek biopsied. They hope it is nohting an mets from my primary cancer to that spot would be rare- but... ICK. I'll keep you in my thoughts too

Teresa Hartman said...

Thanks for the thoughts, Lisa. I will be holding out thoughts for you, too, as you wait for path to get through studying your biopsy so you can hear the results. Maybe they can just develop a patch for us that we could put on the spot and itwould remain plain for benign, and turn polka-dotted if there is cancer present...
I luckily have enough to think about right now instead of dwelling on the MRI - we have over 270 medical librarians coming to town this week, expecting a good time! http://www.mcmla.org/2007 Whew!

Molly Brawley said...

Hello Cheeky Librarian!

I was diagnosed with AdCC/breast in July and started a blog soon after--I am a former high school English teacher who always used writing for therapy so a blog made sense, along with some Xanax. : ) It has been wonderful for me to write and has kept friends updated on my journey. I can't believe it took me so long to find YOUR blog, as I have googled Adenoid cystic carcinoma more times that I care to admit. But here I am!

Thanks for sharing your journey; although different from mine, ACC is so rare it is nice to hear from others.

Molly

 
Who links to my website?