Life (I refuse to write DEATH) and Taxes

So, I chatted with my doctor's office today. Tomorrow, after Dr. Kenyon signs the prescription form, his assistant Katie will FAX it to a pharmacy in Portland; this pharmacy stocks the chemo drugs Xeloda and Tykerb and they also know how to deal with insurance. They will notify me about the copay or whether or not insurance will cover them; if insurance doesn't cover them, then Dr. Kenyon will have a little chat. If insurance does cover them, they will send them to me within 24 hours, so odds are, I will be able to start the drugs by later this week.

In the meantime, I outlined the red area in marker yesterday and it seems like it has stayed the same. Also, I had another tissue expansion appointment today and I seem to have a bit more pain, like everything is much tighter than the past couple of times. So far, the doctor has expanded me about 350 cc's; to get to a "B" cup, I need 450 cc's. We'll see how much more I can tolerate because I think I read they want to expand you more than you need because things kinda settle in after awhile.

Katie also scheduled a bone scan and a CT scan for me. I get the injection for the bone scan at 8am on Thurs, then I see the cardiologist at 10am, and then the bone scan is at 11am. Then, the CT scan is at 9am on Friday. I have lunch with the chair of my department on Friday and the topic of the conversation is to plan my teaching and administrative responsibilities next fall around any future treatments I may have. So, hopefully, I will know whether or not the cancer has spread anywhere else by early next week, if not sooner. Thankfully, Kenyon usually tells me as soon as he knows the results of these tests.

And, for work, I need to finish a proposal for funding the last bit of my big King Island project; I need to fill out bureaucratic BS paperwork for one of the courses I teach; and I would really like to finish my taxes, that is, if I can even get them started. I downloaded the software today and then I tried to install it, but something didn't work; then I was on hold for 25 minutes waiting on customer support, a young guy finally answered and I started to tell him the issue, and then he promptly hung up on me. I guess I'll try again tomorrow . . .