Crazy Sexy Cancer in Seattle

That's who I was thinking about! I almost made an appt with her instead of my onc, but I have a couple of weird things going on, so I decided to wait. I heard from a nurse at Swedish that Dr. Rinn's wait time is almost always more than an hour. Has that been your experience?

Rengeko....I would also recommend Rinn.  I see Dr Kaplan, who is also amazing, but my good friend saw Rinn and spoke so highly of her.  They are in the same office and the rest of the staff there are superb!

seems like it might be time to plan another gathering ... I had to cancel at the last minute on the last one as I changed positions and work got way to hectic.

I love doctor rinn.  Its true that she runs late but its also true that its because she really will talk to you.  I always schedule my appointments for a thursday afternoon when Knit for Life is meeting downstairs.  Then I sit downstairs knitting until its my turn and chit chat with the group.  After I have my appointment, I just go home. 

Ladies, I have an awkward question.

At the tail end of last November, my 82 year old mother --then living in VA--was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer.  She ended up in hospital but was then persuaded to come to Seattle (no family in VA) for treatment and be where family could help.  At recommendation of her doctor in VA she started with dr. peters at pacific gynocology.  Despite her advanced age, Dr. Peters started her on chemo. He was of the opinion that her condition was very bad when he first saw her but that she was also very treatable and shouldn't give up just based on the diagnosis.  He also hooked her up with a cardiologist.  Now three months later, she really is doing so much better than she was when she arrived.

last week Dr. Peters advised her again that given her excellent response to chemo, she should have surgery to remove tumor and then have about 3 more chemo treatments.  He is of the opinon that if she does this, she will have a good remainder of life (years even) and end up dying from her heart issues and not her cancer. (death by heart issues meaning that she lies down and doesn't get up).

She is not so sure she wants surgery and now wants to know more about pallative care.  Does anyone have any good information about that sort of thing in Seattle? 

Honestly, its a very hard situation--while she says she doesn't want to extend her life or "live forever" at the same time, whenever she has been given medical options that would result in a more immediate end to her life, she always chooses to do what will continue her life (treatment for heart condition, getting pacemaker installed, doing chemo, etc).  I am frankly not sure that the problem is not depression (she has issues with depression) but she is unwilling to change her current anti-depressant (prozac)--for three months she has insisted that she has "no thoughts" about her diagnosis and having gone through a cancer diagnosis myself, i can't see anyone having "no thoughts" about the news.  But she is VERY stubborn (I'm only a daughter what the devil do I know?) so it was only today that we got her to attend a support group.  I got the SW at Swedish Oncology to visit her during chemo--she used the time to kvetch about the cardiologist.

Any thoughts or tips will be appreciated.  Thank you.

Hi ladies! I was wondering if a get-together in the Seattle area is planned any time soon?

If so, I'd love to join! - I am still undergoing treatment, and it would be really nice to meet other women who have "been there, done that". ;-)

I would love to get together again!

Let's start looking at April ... we typically do a week night and meet at the Red Robin on the waterfront (for those ladies that are across the pond).  How does the week of April 24 look?

Fronsty, Any day that week would work for me.

Any day of that week would work for me, except Wednesday, the 25th. That's when I am having my last chemo (and I'm not done until about 8:30 pm). - Looking forward to meeting everyone!!!

Any day that week is good for me. I look forward to meeting some more of you in person! 

Susan,  I will miss you, but have a GREAT trip!!!  I'm thinking about going on the Vegas trip, are you still interested? I haven't quite made my mind up yet, but could be talked into it,  

 Pam 

So far looks like Monday or Tuesday works for the most folks ... I'll check back later in the week to see where we end up.

And YES to Vegas!

I would love to meet with the Seattle ladies. The 25th or 26th would work best for me. I look forward to the meet up.



Susan, have fun in Vegas.



Rengko, I see Dr Larissa Korde at SCCA & really like her. She was my 2nd opinion Dr & I liked her.



Thanks,

Deborah

Hey ladies going to Las Vegas, I'd like some information on this trip - when, where, etc.  I have been quietly lurking here for a while, after a couple of Red Robin outings, but the LV trip has really picqued my interest.  Info please!