An nose update

Our friends Sarah and Drew sent Alex an incredibly thoughtful care package …. of noses!!  Since his actual nose is kind of messed up, they sent us a box of NEW noses, including a couple of clown noses and one that we think is a parrot (?).  I can’t thank you enough for the kindness and humour – exactly what we needed!  You guys totally rock.

 

We saw the radiation oncologist this past Monday, and we’ve decided to go ahead with radiotherapy treatments on the skin cancer on Alex’s nose.  Now, when I first heard “radiotherapy” I thought it was some kind of jazzy-music-and-scented-candles thing, but it’s just the British was of saying “radiation”.

It’s kind of cool though, if I can geek out in a weird way, because they’re going to make a lead mold of his face so that the photon beams (and yes, the really are photon beams, which is also cool and Star-Trekky) don’t damage the rest of his face (or his brain, which is pretty darn close to his nose!)

The sucky part is that he has to go every day for 9 days for the treatments. And the hospital isn’t exactly next door – it’s about 40-50 minutes away by train.  But it’s certainly not the end of the world, and I’m sure Alex will find 9 different ways to travel there, to keep himself entertained.

Anyway, so this whole situation should be wrapped up by Christmas. The side effects of non-jazzy-music-with-scented-candles are pretty minimal, and the doctor said one part of Alex’s nose will likely be a lighter color than the rest of his skin. But he’s pretty darn pale anyway, so I don’t think it will be that noticeable. And if it is, we can have fun shopping for make-up together.

Okay, one last super big THANK YOU to everyone who has been so supportive, sending nice thoughts and hugs and messages. In the grand scheme of things this is a very minor brush with the C-word, but it’s scary nonetheless. Having you in our lives makes it better.

XOXO
Astrid