Day 13
Everyone says a second opinion is very important. What happens when one doctor orders a certain test, but the other does not find it necessary. That is our current dilemma. The conclusion we have come to is a third opinion. Best two out of three right? However, all these opinions are out of pocket. We are skilled to know what our medical bills look like currently. But it is always realistic to know how much you owe and make sure you don’t end up spending your whole life paying it back.
Jackie is doing very well now. Tomorrow we are going shopping for sweaters and hats. I find this as therapy for her. I think she deserves it. I want her to be ready inside before all the chemo and radiation begins. No more stress, no more worries. Things have to be done and before we know it, life will be the way it was.
I am currently trying to encourage Jackie to eat as much as she can. Chemo takes a big toll on your body. Most likely one is going to lose weight during the process. I am encouraging her to protein load. I hope she gains some weight before treatment. Being strong and healthy is very important during process. Chicken, beef, fish, is all great sources of energy. Time to learn how to make some good food!

Day 14
Oh today was such a fun. It is so nice to spend a lovely day my wife. She is my best friend and it is so great to see her laugh. I’m looking forward to the end of her treatment so we can laugh and play everyday. I took her shopping and we bought some shirts and sweaters for her. Then we hit up the buffet for protein overloading. I also stopped by Costco today to fill up the fridge. I enjoy doing things for Jackie to make her smile and be healthy.
Tomorrow is another day of doctor appointments. First it’s the ECG, then the 3rd opinion, and finally the pulmonary function test. I took the afternoon off to spend with her. It is definitely what I want to do. I want to be with her as much as possible.

Day 15
Today was a half day. Lots of doctors’ visits were done. The first part of the morning was spent doing an ECG. It was a fairly simple procedure, but great information came out of it. In fact, we were introduced to a salon that specialized in customizing wigs for chemo patients. What a great idea! From the people I’ve talked to going through treatment, one of the hardest parts for women is losing hair. Especially for women, hair is very important; it represents pride and beauty to have hair. Jackie feels complacent with not being able to have hair the next few months. I’m not sure how she will feel when the hair starts falling out. We’ve been trying to find hats, caps, scarves, and now we have wigs.
The next doctor was for our 3rd opinion. Obviously with our wonderful health care system, a patient has to go through a primary care doctor before seeing any specialist. Hopefully the doctor makes an urgent referral and we can see this third oncologist soon. The final appointment was for a pulmonary function test. This test is similar to what athletes take to test their lung capacities. They measure your total lung capacity, lung capacity through a pressurized system, lung capacity with different gases, and residual capacity. All these tests are baselines and very normal. It was a very eventful day and luckily we were able to top it off with a movie together.