I will be having another surgery on Tuesday, 12/16. It sounds like they're going to take everything out from my appendix to my uterus. I wonder if there'll be a gaping cavern down there for my intestines to slosh around.
After surgery comes the fun stuff. If everything else, lymph nodes, omentum, etc., is clean then I'll still have to have 3-4 rounds of chemo. More if other things are positive.
The cancer type is clear cell and it is fairly rare and very virulent. So, if all the biopsies come back clear, I would normally be considered stage 1 cancer. But because the type is clear cell, that automatically jumps to stage 3. It makes me feel like an overachiever.
They found something on my liver from the CT scan and now I need a liver ultrasound tomorrow for further evaluation.
The doctor has recommended genetic testing, particularly to have info for the boys. I was relieved to hear that it wasn't something I ate, smoked or rolled around in coming back to bite me. She thinks it's genetics. Of course I did grow up next to a nuclear power plant. Hmmm...
The boys are trying to be brave, but Christian cries a lot. Jesse tries to make jokes and keep things light, but has had one huge blow-up moment. Mickey is my rock. It was my lucky day when I met him.
Jesse broke a finger when his hand got slammed in the locker this week. He has to go to the orthopedist when I'm having surgery. Dad to the rescue. Christian is having a speech evaluation this morning while I'm at the urologist. Dad, again. Life does go on.
The people at Mickey's work, Quisenberry Marketing & Design, have been so wonderfully supportive. We had dinner provided every night for more than 2 weeks--everybody took a turn. Now the kids have to get used to my cooking again. I'm just sorry that I'm going to miss the Christmas party.
I'm having my hair cut and colored today for the last time for a little while. When I start chemo I'm going to have it cut short and donate it to Locks of Love. I think it will be less traumatic to go from short to bald than from long to bald. Particularly for the shower drain.
Thanks for the good wishes and prayers. It's powerfully healing!
2 comments:
Joan,
Just want to let you know you are in my prayers. Thank you for keeping everyone up to date as you go through this journey. We will continue to bring food as needed, so you don't have to worry about those boys (all three of them!) going hungry.
Be strong my friend, you have the strength and will to get through this.
Love,
Lisa
I have a friend who had breast cancer. She too needed chemo and went through the process of getting her hair cut. In the end she decided to have a wig made of her locks (or at least hair similar to hers). She had quite a number of natural hair wigs which accentuated her quite nicely. It's something to think about.
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