Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 -- We met Dr. Eisele at UCSF. My first impressions: very competent and very busy. There were no wasted words. First he did a very thorough exam, then we discussed treatment options.

Until now I had been diagnosed T1 or T2, N1, M0. T is the tumor size, N is the number & location of lymph nodes and M is the degree of distant metathesis. Dr. Eisele thought I was T1 or T2, N2, M0. The recommended approach for N2 is different than N1 so the diagnosis mattered.

He asked if I wanted consultations with medical and radiation oncologists at UCSF. Hey, more data is a good thing, so I said yes even though I doubted Kaiser would pick up the tab for any of my outside consultations. He also offered to take my case to the UCSF Tumor Board. This offer sounded way cool since now I would have many eyes and brains at one of the leading cancer centers in the US looking at my case and advising me on the best treatment plan.