Meeting with the radiation oncologist

This morning we went to the Saskatoon Cancer Center to meet with the radiation oncologist. We talked with him for about an hour, and also spent quite a bit of time talking with the social worker there. Rick (the social worker) was fantastic, talking about so many issues surrounding the treatment (for example, how to claim medical travel expenses for income tax deductions) and giving us a tour of the facility, including the CT scanner and the radiation therapy room. He also gave us a bag filled with all sorts of books (some for Kolbjorn, some for us) and toys (mostly for Kolbjorn) - they really seem to go the extra mile for the kids, it made us feel really cared for.

Kol will be starting radiation therapy in early July. As part of the preparation and planning for therapy, he will have to have a mold taken of his face and head (in order to keep his head in the same position for all the scans and treatments), have another CT scan, and will also have to have a spinal tap to determine if any cancer cells have moved from the ventricle (where the tumor was) down through the spinal column - not looking forward to that part.

We're still processing our conversation with the oncologist - I took two and a half pages of notes, and we also recorded the conversation, so we're going to be reviewing all those things over the next few days. We'll post more once we have a better handle on it.