Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Tuesday, November 27, 2018


I woke up once about 4:30, again about 5:30 and had trouble falling back asleep.  Teresa finally woke me at 7am.

To be succinct we spent the day bouncing back and forth between the Las Americas clinic on the west side of the river (Avenida 80) and the CediMed clinic on the east side of the river (Calle 7 not far from the river) and the doctor’s office on the east side in El Tesoro (up in the mountains).

Late in the afternoon we were with the doctor (oncological breast surgeon) for an hour and at the end I got the 2-minute Cliffs Notes version in English.  This is what I understand.  Teresa has stage 2 (A?) breast cancer.  She has a 2cm tumor on her breast and below it are numerous small calcifications.  We are waiting for the results of an MRI which will determine how to proceed.  If the calcifications are benign the surgeon will perform a lumpectomy for about 6 million pesos ($2000) but if they are cancerous he will perform a mastectomy followed my reconstruction surgery for 13 million pesos ($4350).  One problem is I don’t have money for either one (I have $50 in my checking account and $50 in my savings account) so it’s going to be interesting how we proceed with this.  I understand the MRI results will be ready on Friday.  Still to be determined is whether she will need chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy (the last unlikely).

Joke of the day
A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'
The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'
'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'

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