ANOTHER TEST

Today I had another blood test in Medellin in order to see if my cancer cells are stable. My cancer cells were up the last blood test I took in Lima, Peru a month ago. My doctor decided to wait to see the results of the next blood test (the one I just took today) in order to make a decision as to what to do regarding my health. He did not want to make a snap decision based on the one test, because there were so many variables that could have effected the results of the test. The variables included the following; I had just gotten over covid when I took the test, I took anti altitude sickness pills for a week right before the test and the test was given and reviewed by a foreign lab. So today I went to the hospital and received another blood test to be used for comparison. Then, if my cancer cell count is up my doctor in Miami will decide if I have to come home to get a Pet Scan. Pet Scan machines have to be calibrated and if you want to use them to compare growth of cancer cells the tests have to be done on the same machine in order to do a real comparison. The Pet Scan will determine if my medication is working and if not I will have to change my medication.

The whole procedure to get the blood test today was really not that difficult, it was time consuming and took quit a bit of effort to get them to understand that I do not need to see a doctor, but only need the test. It is thinking about the test results and what those results can mean that can make one crazy. So I am more crazy today than ever and because I will not get the results until next week, labs move very slow here, I will be even crazier.

Hopefully, I will not have to come home and have the Pet Scan. Hopefully, the sun will be shining, the birds will be singing, gun control legislation will be passed in Congress and my meds are working! It is fun to dream!!!!

But no matter what, I will be returning to my trip!!! I got 10 more countries to go to and I will in fact go to every one of them. Remember: “Life is not merely surviving!!”