Appointment, appointment

Yesterday I had a 41 week checkup and we met with the oncology team at MGH for a follow-up and final consultation visit (after they got the full set of John's scans).

41 week checkup
I have to say this visit was a bit depressing, after four more days of contractions, I was in exactly the same state as I had been the last Thursday. The good news is that the little guy is doing great. They hooked us up to a heart rate monitor to watch his heart rate and movements. He started out sleeping and then woke up and vigorously kicked the monitor, thereby declaring him perfectly healthy. We'll keep on keeping on. Friday we'll head to Mt. Auburn for an ultrasound and another stress test to make sure everything is ok. If nothing happens by Sunday, we'll call that afternoon to see if they have space for us and we'll check in that night for an induction.

Oncology Appointment
The good news is after a new blood test and further consultation with the CT scans, there's no evidence that there is metastasis (or at this point it is microscopic). However, their recommendation to continue with follow-up treatment didn't change, since the tumor was large and showed some invasive behavior. So we scheduled John's appointment on the 15th to start radiation. This first appointment is an x-ray scan of his body on the radiation table, where the doctor and the technicians will precisely line up where radiation will be targeted. It will take about 1-2 weeks from there for the physicists to translate dosages into a treatment regimen. Once treatment starts, John will need to go into MGH every day for 2.5 weeks (sans weekends). The fantastic news is that he should have very little side effects. At most some fatigue towards the end and maybe some GI issues as part of the stomach will be affected given the proximity of the lymph nodes being targeted. We've talked about John taking a second week of paternity/medical leave towards the end of his treatment, which will help reduce the stress of going into Boston and to Bedford (for work) every day. Not to mention..baby! Fun! John is determined our little boy will get to take naps on him.

I'll be heading to another pre-natal yoga class tonight and we'll probably head out to dinner in Davis afterwards. I believe it must be worrisome for all the 17-20week pregnant women to see me coming back week after week after week...but maybe it's a good dose of realism for them too about their due date! I should say I learned an important lesson at my yoga class on Sunday, which is another woman at 39 weeks had a co-worker deliver 7 weeks early. Both of us I think are very thankful to know our babies are coming full term.