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Looks like we only got part of God’s plan right. . .

We have never had such a hard time finding a place to live. Once, when the kids were babies, we packed everything we owned and moved from Wyoming to Oregon without ever having even visiting the state before. We rolled into Portland with all our belongings in a rented truck and within a day had a beautiful house to move into. No so with this move, I hate to report. We have been all over the Puget Sound and every door we knocked on has been a wrong number. Every organization that pledged to help has backed out. Dan and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, the visit with the new doctors at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) went well. Dan and I were both impressed with the amount of information we were given. More than any other place we have been. Looking at the scans from February (the CT taken after the 4^th round of chemo), the team of three –the radiologist, my new sarcoma specialist, Dr. ER, and the fellow who we will call Dr. Ponytail –were encourage at how well I responded to the chemo. They told us that only 25-30% of sarcomas actually shrink with chemotherapy. From November to February, there was not only shrinkage, but some actually disappeared. There was one node that looked like it may have been bigger, but it could have been swelling, she said. We have yet to see what round number five and six accomplished. In fact as I am writing this, we are in a hotel room waiting to see if the scans will be done today or not. Dr. ER has ordered a PET scan, a CT scan and a bone scan — all full body. The bone scan is to rule out the actual presence of bone mets. “We didn’t see any evidence of bone metastatic disease. The spots that were seen before could just be from arthritis.” hmmp

I have to tell you a funny part of the visit with the doctors . . .

Before Dr. ER came in, we met with the fellow (the doctor studying to be a specialist in sarcoma oncology), Dr. Ponytail. He gets his nickname from the fact that he sports one of those messy ponytails that you see on the cover of romance novels. The ponytail was accompanied by a strong Brazilian accent. The ponytail and the accent was attached to a very tall, dark and handsome body of a young doctor. He is a very good and thorough physician. He told us he had spent the previous hour and a half going over my file. He then listened as we told him from the beginning my story. He asked and answered questions in detail. Then it was time for him to make a physical exam. He turned to Dan (the Man) and said, “You may stay or you may go out while I do this exam. It is ok with me either way as long as it’s ok with your wife. I am going to step out for a minute to check on something, I will be right back.”

“Do you want to go check on the kids while he examines me, Dan?”

“And leave you alone with HIM? No way!”

“Oh, my goodness! I can’t believe you.”

“Well. . . Ah . . . He is not supposed to be alone with a female patient is he? There is no nurse here…”

“Yah. Right.” Hehehe

So, Dan stayed. Later, when it came time for Dr. ER — a woman btw– to do her own exam, Dan promptly and without a thought excused himself to go check on the kids. Later at the hotel, I called him on his green streak. He denigned it, of course, with a grin. I have to admit it felt good to have my husband think that I still had a chance with a tall Brazilian doctor- even with the scars and the bald head.

The entire meeting took almost three hours. What will happen from here will depend on the outcome of the scans. We just received a call that the first of the scans will be in 30 minutes. (And the PET scan not until next week.) So, we have to pack and run. I will continue the story after– on the way back to Portland.

Oh, yeah, we are going back to Portland. . .