So, what felt like a long wait to find out what’s next ended yesterday. I had an MRI last Saturday, and yesterday I saw the surgeon. He was happy with the progress, so he’s going ahead with the surgery. We still don’t have a date except that it will be in January. That means that the chemo session I had yesterday is my last until after the surgery – they want at least a four week break from chemo, since chemo is hard on the liver and they want the liver as healthy as possible before they hack into it. And THAT means that I will probably have a fairly decent Christmas!!! It will be three weeks after chemo, so hopefully I’ll be mostly recovered. I have been finding that with each round it takes a little longer to recover, but three weeks should do the trick.
Just as an aside, I’ve been fascinated by some of the medical things I’m learning as I go through the process. For example, I can see how doctors need years of training in order to pick things up from CT scans and MRIs. I’ve been lucky enough to see both of mine, and they just look like a lot of shades of gray. How they pick out cancer from other things is beyond me. Also, I’ve heard that the liver regrows, but I had no idea how fast. In fact, it only takes 4-6 weeks! The reason that came up is that there is a possibility I’ll need two surgeries on my liver, and they would be approximately 6 weeks apart.
The doctor did warn that it’s a serious surgery. 1-3% of people die from it and there are chances of ongoing liver problems. So, once again I thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
Brad.
Thursday, December 05, 2013
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