I need to stop and think. Where am I in this process? What Is next? It gets very confusing. Here is what I know for sure. The intake process for the proton therapy treatment requires that I have an MRI. This is important because they use MRI imaging to help guide the proton beams during […]
Emergency Room Visit
Thursday, February 2, 2023 – 0430 Our cat, Roger, usually wakes me up early in the morning for feeding. He jumps up on the bed, gets in my face, and lightly taps me on the nose until I get up to feed him. So, I’m used to getting up early and then going back to […]
All Ahead Full
This is the command the captain issued when he wanted the ship to move ahead as quickly as possible. Now that the insurance issue is behind us, let’s make haste. I have a lot of time to catch up with. Next step, schedule MRI.
NO ACUTE PROCESS IDENTIFIED
The next step in the intake process was to have a chest X-ray. I was a little concerned because in the past whenever they used their machines to look inside me, they always found something they weren’t expecting. But this time the report came back reading “No acute processes identified”, and I think this is […]
Good News & Bad News
Good News The local radiology lab could provide the chest X-ray. Bad News They told me it would be over an hour’s wait. Good news I only waited 10 minutes. Good news The local radiology lab could provide the MRI. Bad news The earliest I could get in for my MRI would be March […]
The Next Step
Before you can start proton treatments there is a lot of preparation to protect your health. There is blood work, chest X-rays, an MRI, and a procedure only available at select proton institutes including the one at Jacksonville. This is an advanced form of technology safely placed in the body and used to reduce injury […]
Timeline
This has been a long and stressful passage and I needed something to help me keep things in perspective so I created this timeline. It is a 1,000-word document that chronicles dates, events, and actions we experienced. I will be able to access “Timeline” from the Other Stuff menu or from this link.
I Was Impressed
During my initial consultation with the doctor and nurse who will oversee my treatment at the Proton Therapy Institute, I was very impressed. If they agree I hope to introduce them to you in a later post. To give you a brief example of why I was impressed with the doctor, he gave me his […]
Needless to say, I’m not in Jacksonville.
This, for the most part, is due to problems associated with my health care insurance. Nancy and I have been dealing with these problems for over a year and they have caused a lot of stress and frustration. In addition, we have spent hundreds of hours on the phone and while working with insurance companies, […]
Delayed Again!!
Thursday, January 13, 2023, and my cancer treatments have been delayed again because of insurance issues. I have a 20-page log that documents my struggles, and this was the first entry, dated October, 2021: “I have had several above-normal PSA readings while under the care of my primary care physician. He was not overly concerned […]
A Short History
Understanding Proton Therapy can be viewed from two levels. The simple and the complex. But first a little history. I did not hear about Proton Therapy from any of the various doctors I have seen. After I had been diagnosed with cancer, and treatment in the form of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) recommend, and […]