Appointment with a Doctor Erin Kennedy at 10:20. She has a fancy title that appears to let us know that she knows wherefore she speaks. Colonoscopy already set for the next day, even before we have our chat. As I said, this is going to be a very hard week.
We are ushered into the consult room. The nurse locks the door behind us. Is she afraid we are going to bolt? Hah, I can still laugh at this. Dr. Kennedy walks in and sits down to start the consult. She appears to be in her mid 30′s at least, pleasant smile but all business. She has our file in front of her and lays it out flat on the desk. She then jumps right in with the diagnosis of what I have. Colon cancer which has metastasized to the liver. But not to worry, she says cheerily, people have rebounded to live at least 3 years without any problems. Janet and I look at each other, hold hands, and tears well in our eyes. It becomes obvious to her that she moved just a bit too fast. I think she thought we knew more than we did. I mean we had discussed the possibility of cancer, but not in such certain terms. It was brutal.
We have a discussion of how the hospital works. Will she be consulting with Dr. Gallinger before proceeding? Will they do chemo first, or operate first? Her tone is a bit gentler. They are never sure how to proceed. There will be a discussion amongst the doctors involved. In fact, there is a small panel of doctors who discuss cases and arrive at a decision. We are not invited.
The consult is short. 30 minutes and we are out. She is not in a rush or anything, and would have given us more time if we had more questions. We are in a bit of a shock. We leave and spend the rest of the day getting ready for the colonoscopy. Whoever came up with this regimen is laughing sadistically somewhere. 8oz of this liquid to be ingested every 10 to 20 minutes. Took between 3 and 4 hours to finish the whole thing. I lived in the bathroom for the rest of the evening. There is little else to say about the day.
Emotionally a bit stunted. Quite numb, but getting ready for the next day is a welcome distraction. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. Little conversation. Drink, poo, drink, poo, sleep, poo, sleep poo.
We spent the whole day on a liquid diet. Chicken broth, Gatorade and Jello. We were surprised by the level of energy I had all day. Considering that I am usually crashing by dinner time, I seem full of vigour. No headaches, no slowing down. Go liquid diet!
