OK, Ken's annual appointment at UCLA had gotten moved back a little. So, we headed down to Los Angeles yesterday amidst all of the traffic and madness of an afternoon appointment. Ken has officially reached "LA Driver status" as he was pissed off while driving and traffic was moving at a snail's pace. When we passed a truck that was simply stopped in the #3 lane, Ken started yelling about what a waste of time that was...why couldn't the driver move his vehicle out of the freeway?.....Ken even wanted to pull over, back up and "kick that guy's ass!" Hahahaha! He now firmly understands the LA Driving Mentality and I suddenly make more sense to him.
We arrived in plenty of time, so we parked at UCLA Medical Center and then walked for some coffee. Ken and I remarked that after two years since he went through daily radiation treatment, we were still able to navigate around the area like we were still there everyday. For something that "only" took 7 weeks, it was amazing that the impact of those few weeks have such a lasting effect on us. I know that my side of this was remembering that it was said that Ken would not live to see our first wedding anniversary. While he has now seen 2 wedding anniversaries, I find that I am still nervous about meeting with his radiation oncologist. We have seen the report, so we know that the tumor has not grown, but meeting with the doctor is a different feeling.
While we waited for the doctor, we saw the nurse, Alice, who was there everyday helping Ken and me to deal with what we were going through. Alice said hello, commented on how great we both looked, asked about our kids, and gave us an update on her life. Again, it was only 7 weeks of treatment (going 4 days a week, every week), but the effects are lasting a life time - and many are in a great way. There is a lot of staff that changes at the hospital. We know it's a teaching facility, so the Residents are usually always different, but I was happy to a picture of Dr. Jeffry Wu in a magazine in the waiting room.
Dr. Michael Selch is still amazing and wonderful. He loved how happy and healthy Ken looked. He asked about the number transferring issue that Ken faced during treatment, and Dr. Selch was happy that it is going away. He is still mystified about this problem as none of the doctors in this field had ever heard of this effect. Dr. Selch did the neuro tests that are now second nature to Ken, and then he said that the treatment seems to have been effective. He stated that he is pleased with the fact that there has been no growth at all in the last two years, so he told Ken to return in one year, and that an annual MRI should be enough now rather than every 6 months.
As soon as Dr. Selch said that, I wanted to jump up and down and hug everyone! This is one year ahead of schedule - an annual MRI. We have the "official" confirmation that Ken is doing well and the tumor has been stopped. Of course, we know that the tumor is always going to be there, and that it could start to grow again one day. We know that Ken needs to keep his stress down, and we need to be sure that he is napping once per day. He can't push himself or it could trigger growth.
But, while we are firmly aware of what needs to be done to prolong Ken's life, we are so excited that there is going to be so much life to prolong!
Driving home was a nightmare. Trying to get east on the I-10 after 3 in the afternoon was impossible. It took us an hour to get from UCLA to the Staples Center, and it did not get any better. We stopped for supper at the Bass Pro in Rancho Cucamonga and then headed home. Luckily, a friend of ours was able to pick the girls up from school and feed them.
Now, to get on with living and enjoying our life!
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