Hello Dr. Granger

As we moved closer and closer to my appointment on Friday my mind was racing. My most recent doctor's appointments have been filled with bad news. I could feel the anxiety coming back. My dad came Thursday night. It was nice to have him with us. He gave me a blessing. If you want more information on LDS blessings click here.I felt like I needed a blessing to help me make a good treatment decision. My blessing was wonderful and I felt that it helped me to be calm and listen to the doctor.

Friday morning we (Joe, my dad and Kate) met with Dr. Granger from Columbus Oncology. These Doctor's are associated with Riverside hospital and Dr. Lilly. I LOVE Dr. Lilly!

Dr. Granger was wonderful too. He spoke with us for two hours. He answered every question as throughly has possible. After our discussion he took us on a tour of his office. He introduced us to a few nurses and showed us a mural that Vern from HGTV painted.

One nice thing about his office is that it is a one stop shop. If I am sick they can treat me right in the office and I do not have to go to the hospital. If I do have to be admitted to the hospital I will probably have to go to Riverside since they have an oncology wing.

Here are some of the notes from the meeting

First cycle: 2 drugs at once:-Adriamycin & Cytoxan (called “AC”). This is given every 2 weeks for a total of
4 doses or 8 weeks.
2 weeks after 4th dose (week 8): switch to another chemo drug-Taxol
Taxol given every week for 12 weeks. Total chemo: 20 weeks

Philosophy on cancer:
Be aggressive
Be optimistic
Be honest

Other reasons to sick with Columbus Oncology are:
1. His office is close to our house. When I'm on Taxol I will have to go to the office twice a week for 12 weeks.
2. He personally manages all of his patients. I will not be working with a resident or another doctor unless I call on the weekend. They have a rotating on call schedule for the weekends.
3. He seems very qualified. You can read his bio here.He told us he left OSU because he wanted to focus on patient care.

Dr. Shipero at OSU is really going to have to bring his A game to get us to go to the James. I'm very curious to see what kind of treatment method Dr. Shipero recommends. I felt very calm and at ease at Dr. Granger's office. The crew I took with me agreed that Dr. Granger seems like a keeper.