The Straight Poop

Today was the day that I met with the surgeon. We'll call him Dr.W. He is very charismatic and confident. I like him a lot and trust that he is going to do a good job. Here is what he is going to do. He is going to remove 1/2 to 1/3 of my colon - called a Right Hemi Colonectomy. He is also going to get out as much of the cancer as he can. There's a lot in there, so he is going to get what he can (let's pray that he can get it all) without putting my overall health at risk. The idea is if they leave some cancer in there, it will be gotten or controlled by the new chemo drugs.

One thing to know - they are not doing anything to my liver. My liver is still too full of tumors to operate on, so they are banking on the new chemo drugs to clean it up.

It's strange that I thought surgery was the answer, but two things have been revealed, 1. they are pretty sure they are not going to be able to cure this cancer.  2. they are relying on chemo to do the big work. I thought it would be the surgery that would do the big work. But they think the chemo is going to do the big work.

The primary goal of this surgery is to take out the primary site - big tumor blocking my colon and lymph nodes and other junk around it. They will give me a epidural catheter to control the pain. That way the pain can be controlled from whichever vertebra they use and down, and my brain won't have to be bathed in pain meds for the week. Dr. W. says they are brilliant when they work properly. If it doesn't work, it will be some sort of morphine drip for me. They expect I will be in the hospital for 5-7 days - more likely 7. I can only get out after the pain is controlled, I am eating and tooting. He did not mention pooping, but I imagine they are going to want to make sure everything is in order.

That is what I found out. I also asked if this cancer was going to kill me. Dr. W's answer was yes, very likely. That if I was 70, his answer would be different, but because I am so young, unless I get into some sort of accident, it's the cancer that will likely get me. He reminded me of some of his cases where he was wrong, people living a long time, cancers being cured that they were sure wouldn't be. He also reminded me there is so much cancer research going on right now that something new might come along in the next year. They just don't know.

How can I be so calm? I am not sure. I am pretty sure it's because I didn't really find out anything I didn't know and there is no way to know that it is absolutely true that this cancer will get me. I am just going to go on the assumption that all will be well.

By the way, my recovery time is 6 weeks or so, so I expect lots of visiting from you all.