Here's a short version of how we got here (since some of you might not know):
February 2016 -- diagnosis and emergency surgery to remove tumor from colon (and a pretty big chunk of the colon, too).
Summer 2016 -- chemo to treat cancer that had likely spread throughout the abdominal cavity.
November 2016 -- an even bigger surgery (9.5 hours surgery, 10 days in hospital, 5-6 months recovery, and a few additional hospital stays over the next few months after that).
2018 - 2020 -- on-again off-again chemo. Blood work indicated cancer would grow while off of chemo and decline while on chemo.
January 2021 -- April 2022: Chemo has been "all on" since January 2021 (biweekly infusions) and has become less effective over time.
May - June: Two rounds of a new chemo (Lonsurf; 2 weeks of daily pills followed by 2 weeks off) in order (a) to see if the new chemo would be effective, and (b) to allow the other chemo to get out of her system in case a surgery was needed.
June 21: Surgery scheduled for July 11; all chemo stopped; several other pre-surgery appointments scheduled.
If all goes well, the upcoming surgery will be similar to the surgery in November 2016: long surgery (basically all day) to remove any cancer that can be removed, followed by a 90-minute heated chemo bath massaged through her abdomen and then suctioned back out. There are fewer organs to remove this time (can only remove each organ once), but there will be scar tissue to deal with from the previous surgeries.
While this is not the sort of surgery to look forward to, we’ve sensed for the last few months that this was where we were heading, so this isn’t coming as a shock. And we have lots to be thankful for. We’re thankful that we didn’t need to have the surgery before Nik and Maia’s wedding, thankful that it will be the same surgeon who did a similar surgery in 2016, and thankful the results last time were “unusually good”.
We're hopeful that the 3-6 month recovery period will be closer to 3 months this time, but there is a lot that we won't know in advance, including how much cancer is there to be removed and how much of the planned surgery is possible to do. What we do know is that although there were some complications with surgery and recovery last time, the outcome was "unusually good". And while scans don't accurately show all cancer, there is no indication of cancer in especially bad places.
So that's where we're at. We'll spend the next couple weeks preparing for the upcoming surgery and trying to squeeze in a few more fun summer things (like kayaking and hanging out with family).
Comments
Teri Warners: Prayers for a sense of peace and some wonderful times together before your surgery.
Mike Borst: Praying for God’s powerful healing through this surgery and a relatively quick recovery. It was fun to kayak with you this summer!