More like "Huh?" day than D-day

So Wednesday was pretty far from an actual D-Day. It was a 13 hour day of driving and various appointments.  I guess the doctors just wanted a good look at my dad so they could assess his surgical recovery themselves, but when I walked out of the hospital at the end of the day, I felt just as confused as when I walked in.

Now it is two days later and I've begun to sort through everything that we were told.  We DO know more about what will happen, it just wasn't laid out in the organized detailed way I had hoped.  I was SO right about this not being like what you see on TV and the movies!

The doctor and her nurse are sweet as pie, and you can tell they have real empathy for their patients and their families.  They would not give specifics about how much time he has, with or without therapy.  What I came away from the appointment was that he does not have curable cancer, but they think they can give him time by keeping it at bay with chemotherapy.  The doctor was clear that she did not want my dad to lose his quality of life, so she does not want him to have debilitating treatments.  The nurse gave us printouts of the drugs that they will use in various combinations during chemo, and we visited the infusion room where he will receive the chemo.  The nurses there assured us that he will be able to come for treatments on the volunteer run medical vans that are available to all veterans.  That took a load off my shoulders to know I won't always have to worry about how he will get there.

The best part of everything is that my dad felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders too.  He never really told me what he expected the doctor to say but I think he really thought she was giving him a death sentence.  When we left he said that he loved the oncologist and told us "she's worth every penny they pay her!"  He can drive again, at least until the chemo starts, and he had his stitches out.  He seems so much happier, and I hope he enjoys the next two quiet weeks the best he can.

As for me, I expect that the worrying will continue.  I just haven't been able to find that shut off switch.