I'm off to Chicago tomorrow!

[Longhorn]

I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to make the trip because of this radiation proctitis that I am currently suffering -- and I mean suffering! But with some changes in my meds, I seem to be doing better. I'm taking Imodium to slow things down and I'll wear adult diapers on the plane if I have to but I'm going to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, Illinois, and find out their opinion!!!

I'll update this thread when I have any news and to let you know what the place is like. I found some old DU threads on the subject in this forum but none of us had actually been, though some had friends and family who had gone. So I'll be the official DU Cancer Support Group reporter. :)

I'm not expecting miracles but I am hopeful that their approach will work better for me. For example, if my Austin oncologist had taken my side effects seriously, I could have started treatment for the proctitis weeks ago and it wouldn't have developed to the ulcer stage. All of this misery could have been avoided. But it wasn't cancer so she wasn't interested, and in fact, she jumped to the conclusion that it was cancer when she finally felt something inside. Fortunately, I just knew she was wrong and didn't suffer needlessly while we awaited the biopsy results. There was no reason she had to bring up lesions since we were going to find out the next day anyway. That's just typical of her "bedside manners."

If I don't find what I'm looking for at CTCA, I'll keep looking. All I want is a doctor who is willing to believe that I can beat this or at least extend my time and who cares about my quality of life as I go through this. I don't think that's too much to ask.

:hi: