We went to the Huntsman Center to meet Dr. Tricot yesterday. It was a great visit. He spent nearly 2 hours with us, going over my past history and my new test results. He can't be sure because a few of the tests still need to come back, but his best guess is that I am in stage 3A of the cancer. He said 7 out of 8 myeloma patients have a benign type of myeloma which is a slower growing myeloma and 1 out of 8 have a very aggressive type of myeloma. Dr. Tricot felt like I probably have the more benign type because looking over my records he feels like I have had the cancer for at least 3 years. I asked him if that was a concern to be in the third stage and his answer was that he would rather treat the benign cancer in the third stage than the aggressive cancer in stage 2. So, he still seemed hopeful. He said we need to get the approval of my insurance company, which takes about 5-7 days, and then we will begin the treatment, which will be a double stem cell transplant. It is a four stage process, spanning over 6 months. I will need to be within 15 minutes of the hospital during each stage for about 2-3 weeks at a time. So one of our challenges will be to find an apartment or room to rent out during this time. Our good friend David Haglund's mother lives close by and has already called to offer a room in her home. She is 89 years old and darling. I was so touched by her phone call. I'm worried about how sick I might be, so I think to begin with I will try to isolate myself and then see how things go.
I loved Dr. Tricot. He is from Belgium, has a nice accent, very kind and knows how to put people at ease. He is leaving for a few weeks to go visit his mother and family in Belgium, so while he is gone we will be seeing another Dr. but still feel very confident with everything. We feel so great about being at the Huntsman Center. The staff is amazing and we left the Dr.'s office again feeling so peaceful and full of hope.
Thanks again to all of you for your kind acts of service. Because of this experience, our lives have been changed for the better.
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4 comments:
I am glad to hear of the hope that the doctor has for your treatment. I heard from my mom of your diagnosis. I am praying for you and your family and appreciate the strong example you were for me as a MiaMaid in YW's and for the strong example you continue to be.
You might want to check with the doctors or staff up there because I know that there are some apartment type facilities up there for outpatients or families of patients to stay in, similar to the Ronald McDonald houses. They are usually very close to the hospitals and sometimes they even provide meals. They usually are low cost or your insurance might cover the cost.
I hope all goes well with your treatments.
Love,
Kristen Johnson Baumgarten
Aunt Carolyn-
I must admit that I'm amazed at your complete faith in Heavenly Father and knowing that everything will be alright as you go through this. I pray for you every night and hope that things contiune to go well for you as you start your treatments. I know that it will be a hard thing for you to go through it, but I also know that you can get through it with Heavenly Father's help. You are a wonderful person full of faith and I really admire you for that and proud that you are my aunt.
Carolyn,
We love you and are praying for you!
I have been seeing Dr. Tricot since 1999 in Arkansas and followed him to Huntsman, iwould see no one else
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