Today we took a trip into the city to get a second opinion from the professionals at Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Living in the NYC Metro area and being prepared with great health insurance gives us the option that would be stupid to pass up. We want to review all our options and explore all alternatives.

Our day was not typical (imagine that). We departed the house at 5:30AM for an 8:00AM check-in time, about 2 hours later and 3 blocks away from MSKCC Sue’s cell phone rings. It’s MSKCC informing us that her doctor is still in Montreal. Her flight from the night before was canceled because of all the bad weather on the east coast, they wanted to reschedule. Sue’s red came out with a too bad we are here and you need to fix the situation. Surprise, Sue got her way.

We ended up seeing quite a few docs today and took care of everything in one visit.

• Medical Oncologist – Reviewed everything with us, no surprises.
• Hematologist – Because of some limited family history of blood clots and Faith’s troubles a review was in order. In general just having cancer increases your risk of blood clots and chemotherapy does also. After review and the fact that Faith had no genetic markers for clotting or bleeding disorders, hemo was also confident that Sue would not have problems nor need any additional precautions.
• EKG – Baseline before chemotherapy, in addition to an electrocardiogram we had done previously.
• Flu Shot – Offered and accepted.
• Baseline blood work that’s standard practice before starting chemotherapy.
• Surgery – MSKCC has some of the best cancer surgeons and reconstructive surgeons in the country. We met to discuss surgical options and establish a relationship to understand what the next steps will be after her pre-surgical (Neoadjuvant) chemotherapy. We are thinking towards during the surgery at MSKCC because of all the expertise in all departments (Surgery, Pathology & Reconstruction) available in one stop.

Overall it was a very nice place. Not your typical NYC hospital experience if you’ve been through that. Still too busy and chaotic at times to be a good place to go to for chemotherapy and radiation on a regular basis. Since the experts agree we are going to do all therapies close to home for Sue’s comfort and convenience.

Friday the 21^st will be her first day of Chemo.