Siteman Cancer Center Visit

First things first, I need to apologize for not texting or calling yesterday. I had major phone issues just outside of St. Louis on the way home. I did not get these issues resolved until about 8:30 last night. At that time, I felt it was way too late to start calling and texting. I was hoping that everyone would figure we were well since we notify when we are not. Thanks for understanding.


Well, we made it safely back from our day at Siteman. What a day it was. That place is, as Steven said, "Freakin Huge." As I mentioned earlier, we had valet parking which was a blessing. It will be worth every penny next time we go. Everyone at the Siteman Cancer Center was great from the time we dropped off the car to the time we picked it up. It was so much easier on Steven to be dropped off and picked up at the front door of the center. After we dropped off the car, we went to Applebee's, which is directly across the street from the center and actually connected by a catwalk on the third floor. It is part of the hotel at the center. We chowed down and Steve ate a great meal. His appetite is really improving. Hopefully we can put some meat on his bones.

We saw Dr. Govindan (Dr. G) at 1:30. The first part of our appointment with Dr. G was the "getting to know you" visit. We discussed family, jobs, marriage and several other things. This put both of us at ease with Dr. G. I think all first time patients should have this opportunity with a new physician. Next he physically examined Steve. After that, he came back for our talk. He said that the slides from Mayo had been reviewed by the Siteman staff and yes, he did have mesothelioma. He suggested that Steve start chemotherapy. He said that we could do it in Springfield and suggested that we talk with Dr. Hoos. (Our sources are working on setting up and appointment now.) The treatments would be once every three weeks. After each set of two treatments, Steve's progress would be evaluated and adjustments would be made if need be.

We are actually home for a few days. Thursday we travel to Dr. Parvathaneni's (Dr. P1) office to hopefully have the left chest tube removed. We will also be discussing with him if we should go to MD Anderson in Houston for a second opinion.

When I left for school this morning, Steve was still resting in bed. The trip to St. Louis, Siteman, and back really zapped his strength. If I know him, after a few more hours of rest, he will be ready to go. All in all, he is improving. He is just weak, but if you think about it, his body has been through a lot since Feb. 12.