Greetings from Zion
Monday, February 13, 2006
This is Kathy’s husband Randy. We finally made it to Chicago on Monday. We were scheduled to fly in on Sunday evening, but Philadelphia got hit with 14 inches of snow which caused our flight to be cancelled. So we got up bright and early Monday morning and our daughter, Dianne, drove us to the local train station. Her mom was a little nervous since Dianne just got her driver’s license in early February and this was her first experience driving on snow and ice. She did great!! We took the local train all the way to the airport and went through the usual hassle of airport security. We departed at noon and got into Chicago around 2 PM, central time. The Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) driver was waiting at the airport with a stretch limo, a real treat. We rode with another lady, Margaret, who had been treated at CTCA before. Our appointment was at 3 PM so the driver took us straight to CTCA in Zion, Illinois.
The building is very nice and the staff could not have been friendlier. It is unlike any other hospital/doctor visit we had ever had. We started at the new patient reception office and signed the usual admittance forms and discussed them with the admitting lady.
Next it was off to see the doctor. Our doctor is Dr. Dennis Citrin and he examined Kathy and then explained our treatment options. Kathy had sought out CTCA because of the possibility of having Abraxane rather than Taxol for the next round of chemo treatments. Dr. Citrin explained that Abraxane is not really the drug to use for the aggressive type of inflammatory breast cancer that Kathy has. The plan for the next course of treatment is dependent on some tests which will be done Wednesday. Depending on the outcome of the tests, Kathy will either undergo more chemo using a combination of Carboplatin/Taxol or will have radiation. Dr. Citrin was very thorough in explaining our options and answering our questions. Kathy’s concerns about side effects were relieved based on CTCA’s approach to managing the treatments.
The day ended with dinner at the CTCA cafeteria. The meals for Kathy are included and I have a $10 dollar meal allowance, which is more than sufficient for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is really good and very affordable.
We get around using the shuttle provided by CTCA and on the way to our hotel the driver took the time to take us through the shopping center within walking distance from our hotel so we could see what stores are there.
We checked in after a long day and watched some of the Winter Olympics on TV. The day tomorrow starts early. We will need to catch the shuttle at 7:15 to get to our 8 AM appointment.
This is Kathy’s husband Randy. We finally made it to Chicago on Monday. We were scheduled to fly in on Sunday evening, but Philadelphia got hit with 14 inches of snow which caused our flight to be cancelled. So we got up bright and early Monday morning and our daughter, Dianne, drove us to the local train station. Her mom was a little nervous since Dianne just got her driver’s license in early February and this was her first experience driving on snow and ice. She did great!! We took the local train all the way to the airport and went through the usual hassle of airport security. We departed at noon and got into Chicago around 2 PM, central time. The Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) driver was waiting at the airport with a stretch limo, a real treat. We rode with another lady, Margaret, who had been treated at CTCA before. Our appointment was at 3 PM so the driver took us straight to CTCA in Zion, Illinois.
The building is very nice and the staff could not have been friendlier. It is unlike any other hospital/doctor visit we had ever had. We started at the new patient reception office and signed the usual admittance forms and discussed them with the admitting lady.
Next it was off to see the doctor. Our doctor is Dr. Dennis Citrin and he examined Kathy and then explained our treatment options. Kathy had sought out CTCA because of the possibility of having Abraxane rather than Taxol for the next round of chemo treatments. Dr. Citrin explained that Abraxane is not really the drug to use for the aggressive type of inflammatory breast cancer that Kathy has. The plan for the next course of treatment is dependent on some tests which will be done Wednesday. Depending on the outcome of the tests, Kathy will either undergo more chemo using a combination of Carboplatin/Taxol or will have radiation. Dr. Citrin was very thorough in explaining our options and answering our questions. Kathy’s concerns about side effects were relieved based on CTCA’s approach to managing the treatments.
The day ended with dinner at the CTCA cafeteria. The meals for Kathy are included and I have a $10 dollar meal allowance, which is more than sufficient for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food is really good and very affordable.
We get around using the shuttle provided by CTCA and on the way to our hotel the driver took the time to take us through the shopping center within walking distance from our hotel so we could see what stores are there.
We checked in after a long day and watched some of the Winter Olympics on TV. The day tomorrow starts early. We will need to catch the shuttle at 7:15 to get to our 8 AM appointment.
posted by Kathy Holleger @ 7:34 PM
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