Day 2
(part 1)
Thanks Rupert and Catt - I was wondering what kind of connection might be required for the music... Bluetooth off the phone will work!
Uneventful trip down last night, but a somewhat sleepless night. On to Palo Alto and more tonight.
(part2)
We made it to Monterey finally and I will try to boil down the day succinctly since I am wiped. Not a great nights sleep as indicated but we made it to Dr. Chang's office with 20 minutes to spare; traffic for the bay area was not bad, heavy but moving steady the whole way. We met with Dr. Chang and three of his staff at various times. He was very reassuring with my choice to be pro-active in my treatment, pointing out that the smaller the tumor the more likely for positive outcomes. He indicated that most people see true side effects in the 6-18 month range and most short term effects are more stress related. (I think I can relate to that.) He also talked a little about how tumors that die off slowly generate fewer side effects, where as tumors that show early signs of necrosis tend to generate more issues. He was very personable and easy to talk to. He really talked up the radiation oncologist I would be seeing next, Dr. Hancock, indicating he was one of the most experienced that he works with as well as one of the most personable.
After Chang it was off to the main hospital for a quick MRI. Unfortunately since they were fitting me in to the schedule we ended up waiting for about 90 minutes. The MRI staff and tech were all very helpful, warm and understanding of my schedule. They did get me in and I made it on over to Dr. Hancock's office with a minute to spare.
It was a quick walk over to the cancer center for my appointment with Dr. Hancock.... (Stanford Medical is huge BTW, and many of the buildings are new or under construction. Chang's bldg. just opened in December and I think the cancer center was just before.) I had heard Dr. Hancock was one of the more experienced docs and that he had been at Stanford for over forty years, so when this kid walks in to the exam room and introduced himself as Dr. Harrison I commented, "I didn't think your were Dr. Hancock, his grandson, maybe..." I think I may have offended him. I think he must be an intern because he went through the whole question and exam routine and then Dr. Hancock came in and did mostly the same. The "intern" and I did talk about how CyberKnife was sort of developed at Stanford and he mentioned that Dr. Hancock claims to have been present at the first CyberKnife treatment. So, in short I felt like I was in good hands. Hancock was a grandfatherly type and his gray hair and easy going demeanor put me instantly at ease. He talked about the potential for some of the short term effects I might experience (nausea, although they do give meds for that, and light flashes from the radiation passing near the retina) which was very interesting.
All-in-all the staff and facilities at Stanford, as we have all heard, are top notch. I was particularly impressed with the warmth and compassion of everyone we were in contact with. Now, to bed... it has been a long day and I am looking forward to sleeping in before doing some sight-seeing tomorrow (Saturday).
Don't think twice, it's alright - Terry
