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| The Alfa and the Cobra |
written by Chuck's girlfriend Penelope
Finally we have action! They freaked him out by calling him the night before (Tuesday) & said that he was not eligible for the medical appointment. They called too late for him to respond (closed), so we went down anyway (I got up at 4:30). Went there and waited 40 minutes while they cleared him (he did have coverage) for his appointment and finally met with Dr Gomes (elegant fingers and thankfully a cut & dried, extremely intelligent woman surgeon) after a half hour consultation with the aide. The aide had him sign the waiver (in case they punctured a vein and/ or killed him during the “test drive” and/ or actual procedure, whereby on the first, they determine by a needle threading up the groin vein into his liver veins with a tiny cord, remove the needle & thread after directing a tube is inserted to the sites (different veins leading to stomach and lungs from the liver) to determine if there are stints (weakness, etc) with a tiny camera.
Apparently, the procedure includes closing off those stints with some glue. That is the “dry run”. The actual procedure (lengthy name) requires some sedation and takes 6-8 hours (outpatient also, like the “dry run”). They then direct tiny glass beads into the tumor that are radiated and hope that it shrinks the tumor.
It is a 50/50 chance that it will shrink. A month after the procedure, he goes back again to have another ultrasound to determine if it works. She says that it is 50/ 50 on his chances and that the cancer is treated as a disease and not curable at this point. The objective is to stabilize/ shrink the tumor. It appears that due to his cirrhosis, he is not a viable candidate for liver transplant, although they keep trying to squeeze more money from him, by setting up other appointments with heart doctors, etc.
So we do not know when the first appointment (dry run) is occurring, hopefully within 10 days. The actual procedure is dependent upon appointment availability and if any cancellations occur.
