Six weeks after we got here, Tommy was diagnosed with cancer of the esophogus which had spread to his bones. Chemo started immediately, with all the joys that come with chemo: hair loss, nausea, extreme tiredness, etc. However, after three sessions of chemo, spread over nine weeks, a CT scan showed that the tumor (originally 10 cm) had been reduced by 95%! Isn't that grand news!
Chemo has re-started with three more sessions, which will take us to early December, when there will be all sorts of scans to see what is going on in the esophogus and the bones.
The chemo is taking place in Panama City, at the Punta Pacifica Hospital which is brand new and affiliated with Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., USA. We originally went to this hospital for another problem, and when the doctors were trying to discover the source of that other problem, they came across the cancer.
We feel the hospital is terrific, the doctors are really on the ball, and the nursing staff attentive and kind. The admin staff, while polite and very nice, are sometimes not as efficient as one would like. However, the Punta Pacifica has a wonderful lady named Dee, whose function is to help patients and families with any admin and/or translation difficulties. This is truly a plus!
Because the doctors know that we live in El Valle and therefore cannot easily run back and forth to the hospital, all the diagnostic tests were performed on an in-patient basis over a period of three days. Because of our terrific BUPA insurance, Tommy had a private room with a couch, which could be converted into a bed for me when I desired (no charge, either). I did that once but didn't eat the offerred hospital food, opting instead to walk across the street to the shopping mall and get a sushi take-away.
The chemo sessions are on every third Monday, so we take the bus on Sunday and treat ourselves to a nice dinner with wine because wine is prohibited for a week after chemo. We like to stay in the El Cangrejo district and have a terrific little hotel ($35 a night, thank you very much). We are learning all the great restaurants in El Cangrejo, as well as the casino Veneto.
We stay Sunday and Monday (because the chemo ends too late on Monday to catch the bus), and return home on Tuesday mid-day.
We are greeted by TwoBaby, screaming his head off. Gladys, the maid, comes in every day when we are gone but it just isn't the same apparently. Nice to be missed!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment