Around the time we finally got Jesse all squared away, Ken finished his second round of chemotherapy. He was doing amazingly well, considering all he had been through. Dr. Schlabach said that he felt Ken might benefit from some radiation treatments now that they had narrowed down the area in his abdomen that would be affected. He made us an appointment with ANOTHER oncologist–this time, a radiation oncologist. Before Ken was diagnosed, I had no idea there were so many different kinds of oncologists. It felt like we were going to meet them all before it was over with.
The radiation oncologist’s name was Jeffrey Gefter. A couple at our church who had been through cancer treatment earlier, told us that Dr. Gefter was a wonderful man and a great doctor. They also told us to expect to wait a long time to see him. He was the head of that department, but he liked to meet with every patient treated in the radiology center. Turns out, they were absolutely correct–about the wait–that is. I think our appointment was right after lunch, probably 1:00. They took some x-rays, did some measurements, marked Ken’s abdomen (they call it “tattooing”) to determine where to aim the radiation, took Ken’s vitals and sent us back to the waiting room. We waited, waited, waited, waited, and WAITED!!!!! We waited so long that I had to call and make arrangements for someone else to be at the house when the boys got off the school bus. I think it was finally after 6:00 p.m. before Dr. Gefter came in. I know that the office staff had already left for the day. But, I have to admit, that Dr. G. was worth the wait. He showed us all of Ken’s x-rays, explained which areas they would radiate, and explained all of the side effects we could expect. He was very warm and compassionate and even though it was late, he encouraged us to voice our concerns and ask all of the questions we needed to ask. It was probably around 8:00 before we were ready to leave. Dr. Gefter said his staff would call and let us know when the treatments would begin.
Once again, Ken and I left Erlanger Hospital feeling like we were treading uncharted waters. Chemotherapy, surgery, chemo again, and now radiation. These were all things that we had been told at the outset would probably be of no value, given Ken’s initial diagnosis and prognosis. And every time we asked if the prognosis had changed, we would get vague answers and shoulder shrugs. “Only God knows”, was a phrase we heard a lot. I know it was the truth, but I wanted to jump up and down and scream, “Why can’t God give us a clue?!”
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