PIK3R1

One of the stupidest parts in a cancer journey is that time during which you know that you have cancer but are not yet on any treatment plan. That’s where I am now.

I’ve known for over a week now that my biopsy was positive. The same cancer I was diagnosed with in 2022 is now back in my liver. Maybe in my lymph nodes too but definitely my liver. Yet my appointment with my oncologist to hear her treatment plan won’t be until Wednesday.

I’ve been through this before, though, so I haven’t just been waiting. I’ve been making more appointments. I already had my annual physical scheduled for October. I also had an eye exam and an echocardiogram not too long ago. But I still needed to schedule:

• a hearing test (The previous time I did chemo it screwed up my hearing, but I didn’t have a baseline test and my hearing was still slightly above the line of what is considered clinical hearing loss, so technically I didn’t lose anything?),
• a podiatrist visit (My foot has been uncomfortable and at times painful since I tried to take up running earlier this year. I thought it would heal on its own if I just stopped running. No such luck. I need to get this taken care of.),
• a dental exam and cleaning (Needing to dental work while in treatment just complicates things),
• and my first ever second opinion appointment.

Even if it turns out I don’t need any of this, it makes me feel like I’m being productive.

And to keep my mind off of things even more, we just bought a house! It should be a much more peaceful neighborhood for my recovery, but it needs a lot of fixes. I’ve already been busy scheduling a plumber, electrician, tree trimmers, HVAC experts, etc…. Well, I don’t have everything scheduled yet. It’s going to be rough because we can’t move in until the flooring is done, and I don’t want to have to move when I’m feeling lousy from the treatment already. So, yeah, I’ve been busy. I haven’t had as much time to go down rabbit holes as I have when faced with cancer in the past.

On the flip side, though, there is so much going on that my husband is a bit frazzled. He’s my primary caregiver whenever I’m sick. Am I burning him out before I even start treatment? Whoever said “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander” was definitely not thinking of caregiving. Maybe a few small pleasant surprises could help. Hmmm. And it’s yet another thing for me to do to keep me away from that rabbit hole. Hurrah!