Mets Day 34 - Mulling over the options

During our return home from Chicago today, Jennifer and I had a rolling and unresolved discussion about the future.  Among the things we discussed and are considering:

1.  What is the best course of treatment now?  We are going to meet with oncologists from GW (tomorrow), Hopkins (next week), and hopefully NIH (following up from the BCAN patient forum), and will be reaching out to doctors at a number of other hospitals, to assess the best course of treatment.  We'll be evaluating clinical trials and better educating ourselves on whether systemic adjuvant treatment is appropriate, and if so, what.  Chelsea already has built a long list of questions for the doctors.  Jennifer is not a fan of double blind clinical studies, because there is only a 50% chance that I'd get the new treatment. 

2.  What is my prognosis?  We'll also be researching and discussing that question.  It's maddeningly difficult to get a straight answer out of most doctors, because there are so many variables:  age, co-morbidities, specifics of staging, type of disease, etc.  Nevertheless, the averages of past patients with similar presentations can help guide and manage expectations and inform life choices. 

3.  What do I do regarding work?  In the short term (e.g., the next few weeks), I will still be recovering from my surgery and training my neobladder, so I'll be in no position to soon return to the office.  My firm has been most supportive of me, and is aware that the recovery from this surgery was budgeted to be two months, so I have plenty of time to evaluate this.  Whether, when, and how much I return to work will be informed by a number of factors, including my prognosis, and what is best for me, my family, my work obligations, and my economic needs.  I will be carefully weighing all of those factors.  I do not expect that decision to be easy or clear. 

4.  What can I do to most help my family?  Tonight, it was simply spending time with them.  Each is reacting differently to the bad news, and it will take some time to work through all of the implications. 

It's a lot to sift through.  One step at a time.