Personal Journey Entry # 24

We had our procedure today with Dr. Boston, and going to Beth Israel in Boston is a whole new ball game. Beth Israel is the fifth hospital we have visited on this trip, and I am not a big-city guy. It was a long ride in. Navigating a tight maze of a parking garage was a challenge, and there was a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour wait in the drab, crowded waiting area. Thank God the staff was excellent, once we were called, and Dr. Boston could not have been nicer. She gave us all the time we needed to answer our many questions. Today was supposed to be the first of two trips to Boston to finish our fight against cancer. It was not that simple. We have some more work to do.

Dr. Boston performed an endoscopy/ultrasound, and the good news is the cancer has yet to reach the muscular level of my esophagus. This still gives us options, but a bit more complicated than when we left Exeter this morning. Because of a pre-existing hernia, she had a difficult time keeping the tumor in constant view, which would be necessary to cut it out. She does not feel comfortable with the risk. We left Boston with our three surgeons needing a powwow. That was Dr. Boston’s term, not mine.

The clock is ticking, and we have four to six weeks to get this done. Any longer, and we risk the cancer finding its way to the muscular level and more issues. I need to drop forty to fifty pounds like yesterday and go back to the robots and the Esophagectomy, have Dr. Boston try to cut it out, or have her blast it and hope she gets it all. We now wait for the phone to ring and the next steps to be drawn up.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hate to impose, but can you keep us in your prayers for a bit longer. Thank you. God bless and keep you, Ray