HIGH AND LOW

May 30, 2022 Holly Cohen

Off

So my blood test came back. One cancer marker was up and one cancer marker was down. The test was therefore, inconclusive. I will not find out until tomorrow what my Doctor in Florida thinks about the results of the test. I know that he is going to want to see me and give me some additional tests in order to make a decision regarding my treatment; at least that is what I think he will say. I will go at the end of next month if I must go, so that arrangements can be made to get me approved to get a Pet Scan, which is the only test that will be conclusive as to whether or not the cancer is growing, diminishing or is stable. It is always a fight with the insurance company to get the test, because of its price tag. The insurance company is not in the business to spend money, they are in the business to deny and delay and hope that the patient will die while waiting so that they would not have to pay for the test and the ultimate medications and procedures that the patient would need.

I am hoping that the Pet Scan will indicate that the two medications that I am currently on is working and I do not have to change the prescription. If the results indicate that the cancer is growing and the Doctor wants to prescribe a new medication, which of course he is going to want to do, the medications that require a monthly injection will not work for me. Because I plan on going back and completing my travels. And having had the experience of just getting blood tests in different countries I know that getting the prescription and the shots in other countries will be absolutely impossible. So I will refuse the medications requiring shots as part of the treatment. I also will refuse Chemo based upon what I know now. (I will speak about that later in another bog). With any new prescriptions prescribed it has been my experience that I will need to obtain another Pet Scan after the first three months in order to determine if it is working. So I know I will have to come home more frequently then I had wanted, but that is all in the life of a cancer patient. All of this is a crap shoot. One that my life is the jack pot.

Oh by the way, I am in Antigua, Guatemala and it is charming. It is a UNESCO site and it seems, only been here for a day, to be a place I am really going to like. The home I am in has four bedroom, living room, dining room, a fire place and a terrace on the roof. The town is small, but lively and they have great restaurants and bars.