The C Word (not that one - get your mind out of the gutter)

I had to take my middle son T to traffic court on Friday. Legally, being 18, he didn't need me. But I'm a lawyer and his mommy so I went. We sort of enjoyed watching the parade of defendants before us (we were the last case heard). I was amazed at how many people say they had to drive 80 miles an hour in a 55 mile an hour zone because they were unfamiliar with the area. It amused us both and required that the bailiff shush us a couple of times. The result was perfect - traffic school followed by a dismissal of all charges. We left the courthouse in a very good mood, chatting annd laughing in a way that doesn't happen all that often between me and that particular child.



On the way to the courthouse T had been trying to explain to me that, for him, Virginia is cursed. He claims that every time something good happens to him here it is immediately followed up by something ten times worse. I don't think Virginia itself is cursed but Friday certainly followed that pattern.



After court, we went downtown to my office, our plan was for T to help me move some boxes and then to go to lunch somewhere away from the house where he hadn't been before. Mom and son bonding.



We called PC on the way to give him the good court results and he interrupted me to say he'd received the results of the MRI he'd had the day before on his knee. (The results were not supposed to be availabe for two weeks.) All indications are that PC has a very large cancerous mass on his leg. Possible diagnosis are sarcoma and nerve sheath tumor. I'm not sure what we did in the world before google. There are only two Navy Orthopedic Oncologists on the East Coast and they are both deployed so we'll find out today whether he'll be going to Richmond (two hours north) or Duke (around three hours south) for his treatments. The treatment will be radiation and/or chemotherapy to shrink the tumor followed by surgery. There are two schools of thought on whether or not they'll biopsy first - one school of thought is that the rapid growth (it has been eight weeks at the most since he noticed it and it is about the size of half of a brick) indicates it is cancerous and it should not be messed with at all until the surgery; the other school of though it that a needle biopsy won't disturb it. The only good thing about this tumor is that it appears to be "well-circumscribed" so I'm for not messing with it.



PC is the kind of person who simply puts something bad out of his mind. He left for work before dark where he no doubt did his daily two hour workout. He says this is going to be fine although the rehab will be "a pain." He thinks if his treatment is in Richmond he'll just drive himself up there two or three times a week. If its at Duke he'll stay with his brother. No big deal. Except for all his googling I don't think he gets what radiation and/or chemotherapy can do. Superman is about to run into Kryptonite.



And then there's me. I am the type of person who must think through the worst option all the way to its bitter end. All the way through. Its how I deal with things. They hardly ever turn out as bad as I've imagined and that's a comfort. Except for the times that they do...

Edited at 11:34 p.m. to add: Today the efficient Navy medical machine was able to get PC a consult in DC for NOVEMBER. Excuse me - what do they need, a whole brick. I've been madly googling looking for an Orthopedic Oncologist who accepts Tricare (PC, as an active duty military person is not allowed to leave the network of Tricare physicians). I found ONE. Granted, I was only looking in our Tricare region (the North region which doesn't make much sense but I didn't draw the boundaries). His doctor has calls in to two other doctors who haven't called back. WTF. His referral uses words like "urgent" and "paramount." But he can't get an appointment.

Oh yeah, and this type of cancer... it often comes from exposure to radiation. All those years he spent repairing nuclear subs don't appear to have done much for him. But he was defending our country... keep your flags waiving. Mine is beginning to droop.