doctor tuesdays

today was appointment 25 of 29!  yahoo!
it was also doctor day.  yesterday i complained to the techs and the nurse that my head was hurting since friday.  actually my throat was hurting too and my right ear wasn't so happy either.  they asked if i wanted to see the doctor yesterday and i complained to them about he thinks i am stressed out and that i didn't want to alarm anyone because i don't want them to think i am a hypochondriac (OMG!  i must be one because i totally spelled that correctly on the first try!!!).  so i waited until today.  i spent most of the day in bed, except for the part when eric and i almost got divorced trying to get the kids' passports renewed.  but i slept all the rest of the time.  i really like the doctor i saw.  he's the one who helped me with my stomach issues.  he is funny because he tells you like it is.  i think my doctor tries to make it seem better, i do'nt think he goes over the top saying everything is great, but this guy is very straight forward, not scary but not sugar coated and certainly doesn't make me feel like i am making stuff up.
so he checked out my ears and throat and all that, i've got some fluid in my ears and my eustachian tube is all inflamed.  not infected but not happy.  he shook his head when i told him about the triathlon this past weekend, wondering if i had told my real doctor i was planning on doing it.  the nurse assured me that i did tell him, and even if i hadn't have told him, he would have wanted me to do it.  but they did a strep test and was told to not do anything but rest for the rest of the week.  maybe take some sudafed.  but nothing else.  like so much so that as i was leaving the nurse chased after me and was like, really, we're not kidding, you need to take it easy.  but this was of course after she showed me the whole tube system they have there.  this is a brand new hospital, top of the line, super fancy, and they send things around in those tubes like at the bank!  she said they had to tube over the strep test kit, and i was like, what's that mean?  so she showed me!  its crazy!
but back to the doctor.  i have 4 treatments left.  and i wanted to know when i am considered cured.  i told them i wanted to know when to plan my I'm Cured party.  when i asked the nurse first, she said she couldn't tell me because she didnt know.  but she said i could certainly plan an I'm Done with Radiation party.  that sounds like a good plan!  but then i asked the doctor, and he started his speech with something along the lines of well, i am going to tell you, because you have the right to know and you asked, but you've got a really complicated case, so its really hard to tell.  he said most certainly i can think of myself as cured once radiation is done, and how that is a very positive way to look at it (i was like huh, what?).  he said i will of course have many follow ups and way more MRIs than anyone really should have, but the further out we get from the surgery date, the more i can consider myself cured. i asked him if it was like breast cancer, when they say 5 years in remission and you are considered cured.  he didn't answer that and instead said that my surgeon was actually very aggressive in the surgery, and coupled with the radiation, and the fact that my tumor is a slow grower, if it were to grow back, it could be years from now.  he said if i had not done radiation, and just decided to wait and see, if it was going to grow back, it would likely grow back sooner.  so, what does that mean?  in my opinion, i am going to go the positive way with it, and say it means i am cured!  or at least i will be at 3pm on tuesday Sept 4th!! i may have pituitary and hormone issues, but as far at the tumor goes, i am pretty sure i will be cured on tuesday.  party!!! or nap!!! even if they did tell me i really shouldn't do the triathlon on the 8th!  but i am going to do it, race buddy style with janet!  can't wait!