Well, big news. No more chemo. The Doctors have decided that I've had enough and the two lesions on the old liver are small enough now that they can surgically remove them. So here we go again with some serious cuttin'. So a couple weeks ago I had an appointment with Dr. Aloia, the liver Doc, and he wants to go over the last CT scan and tell me my options....He said everything looks good to go ahead and remove the two lesions, they have responded well to the chemo and have shrunk from 7 cms in November to about 1.3 cms now. He said we have to consider it now as well, because I was getting to the limit on the amount of chemo the old liver could take. He said after 8 sessions, the liver starts to be affected, 12 and it is starting to suffer, after 18 its difficult to operate on the liver. I was at 15, so it was time to stop.
The Doctors at MDA are terrific. They are very flexible with their schedule. I thought he was going to tell me after the consult that he had time next week if I wanted to have the surgery. I was surprised when he said I needed to be off chemo for at least 4 weeks to get it out of my system I guess and give the liver a chance to rest. I told him I had a conference in Hawaii in mid-September and he said no problem, we'll just wait for you to get back. Easy Peasy.....So, September 23 is the big day. He told me that between now (the appt last week) and the surgery, he wanted me to walk 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins in the evening and wants me to lose at least 10 pounds, all in an effort to strengthen the liver and make the surgery/recovery easier. Been doing it and already down 3 pounds. I want to do better than 10.
The week of the surgery starts with a Sunday MRI, Monday consult with the Doctor and the anesthesiologist, and then Tuesday admission. The way he explained it, on the day of the surgery he'll start by inserting a little camera (hopefully I will be deep into sleepy land) to look around at the condition of the liver. Then he'll take a biopsy and analyze the tissue to make sure it is strong enough for the surgery. If everything looks okay they'll proceed. He drew on a little diagram of the liver the two spots he was going to work on. He quickly drew two squares around the areas and said "I'll take this one out! And then, "I'll take that one out!" There is a tiny one he said he will just zap with a heated probe. YIKES. I asked him just how big his little squares on his picture were going to be and he said about the size of a lime. Okay, a Key Lime or small lime, or a big lime? He didn't say. I'm praying for the Key Lime!!!
Anyway, I'll be at MDA main hospital for about 5 days, then home for about 3 weeks. No driving, for a month, just recovering. Not looking forward to the surgery, but its my best chance for a cure. Now I may have to have what they are calling 'maintenance chemo' for a while afterwards, but that is okay, I can tolerate it fine. So, keep me in your prayers for a healthy liver in about 5 weeks and the surgery can go forward.
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