ATL, Here I Come

I received word today that insurance is approving me to go to Emory. A big thanks goes to the awesome Case Management team over at BlueChoice for getting my exception request through so quickly!

This news is a huge relief to me. I mentioned in my last post that I had been to both MUSC and Emory to talk about treatment. I first went to MUSC, and at the end of my visit they suggested I get another opinion from the doctor at Emory, just to make sure everyone was on the same page as far as a treatment plan. I left MUSC feeling uneasy and depressed and it took me several days to get out of that funk.

A couple weeks later I had my appointment at Emory. I went in thinking there was no way I'd choose to come to Atlanta over Charleston. Those who know me well know how annoyed I get when I'm in Atlanta. I'm not saying Atlanta doesn't have plenty of cool shit to offer (food, arts, good music scene), but I don't even have to be driving and I get road rage there. And don't even get me started on that time I was there with some friends during college, we went the wrong way down a one way street, got pulled over, got lost and ended up in East Point (I would like to point out I was not driving). Not that driving in downtown Charleston isn't a complete pain in the ass too, but at least it's near beaches. 

Anyway, after waiting an hour past my appointment time and catching a nap in the waiting room, we were finally called back to see the doctor. I probably would have been more annoyed, but these days I fall asleep pretty much anywhere so I was thankful for the nap. The conversation we had with the fellow at Emory went much better than the conversation with his counterpart at MUSC. The fellow at MUSC was a complete idiot who compared my cancer diagnosis to his wife's early diagnosis of diabetes. Umm...thanks, you're not making me feel any better about having cancer. 

Then we met Dr. Lonial and heard how his plan for treatment varied from the plan at MUSC and we were blown away. He seemed really surprised that MUSC recommended I come see him. His reaction made me wonder if MUSC even knows what to do with a case like mine. Dr. Lonial, on the other hand, does have experience treating people with similar cases to my own. Myeloma is all he does. According to his nurse, he "eats, sleeps and breathes" it. I immediately changed my mind. I will come to annoying ass Atlanta because these people are going to get me better. I left Emory feeling upbeat and hopeful, which was a complete 180 from the feelings I had when I left MUSC.

So, that's one thing checked off the list of crap to worry about. It was at the top of my list, so now I'll just continue with my last two cycles of chemo and move on towards the transplant. I'm feeling much better about things now, and hopefully everything else will fall into place from here on.

Most of you on Facebook have probably noticed my purple hair by this point. The dose of chemo they are going to give me prior to the stem cell transplant will cause my hair to fall out, so I've decided to have a little fun with it before I lose it. The plan is to shave it into a Mohawk (long enough to spike it up and take a picture) before we shave it bald. I'm looking at the bright side, and at least my head won't be hot this summer from all my thick ass hair. I'll get some scarves and some hats and maybe an awesome wig and rock it as well as I can. I'm just interested to know what color/texture my hair will be when it grows back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it won't all be grey. Please don't let it grow back grey. :-)