Brain mets update

I ran into Dr G while dropping off a form at his office, just long enough to say hello. His wonderful nurse Jacque told me that Dr G had spoken with Dr Stephen Eulau, my radiation oncologist. I called Dr Eulau and he said that he thought I'd be a good candidate for gamma knife.

Why gamma knife? Because it's supposed to be more effective at pinpoint treatment inside the brain. (Evidently cyber knife is better for other lesions in the body, such as in the liver.) I asked Dr Eulau what he thought about treating my liver mets with gamma or cyber knife and he recommended I speak to the specialists when I see them.

So hopefully I will set up an appointment soon, ask my questions, and be considered a good candidate for this very high tech treatment.

On another front, when I got home and let Bobka out, he limped back inside, favoring his left front paw. Many of you remember when Pumpkin's leg broke last June, the day before I was scheduled for chemo. The poor dog lay in his bed all day Monday until we got home from the Cancer Institute and once the vet diagnosed a pathological fracture, likely related to a metastasized sarcoma, we had to decide to euthanize him immediately. It was a terrible day.

I was so freaked out by Bob's limping that I called the vet, got an immediate appointment, carried him to the car and drove over. The vet examined him carefully and said he might have torced his leg while romping outside or even been stung by a bee, causing him to favor the leg. At any rate, she said there was no reason to suspect a fracture or anything more serious, gave Bob all the treats he could munch on, and sent us home with some doggy anti-inflammatories and the suggestion to keep him quiet for a day or so, monitor the limp, and if it doesn't improve, call her again.

This one incident caused my anxiety level to rise dramatically. I'm not normally anxious, but my heart was racing and I felt extremely stressed and barely able to cope. I've taken some Ativan and will try to get a nap, or at least try to relax. While I may feel as though I am handling the brain mets news, clearly at some level it bugs me tremendously and that came through in my concern over Bobka.