So much has happened, where do I start?!

Wow!  Where do I start?  So much has happened, so quickly, in the last three days that my head is still reeling from it all.  There is so much information to absorb and research, that I cannot put it all in one post without it looking like the preface to War and Peace. So, I’ll keep it simple and start from the beginning …

 

I met with my surgeon on Wednesday.  He said the results from my PET Scan were remarkable.  With those test results in hand, he is now comfortable with the decision to go in and reverse my ileostomy.  The surgery will not be done laparoscopic but open surgery.  His intention is to examine my colon where the primary tumour was located.  If the area looks “clean” than he will leave the colon intact and reverse the stoma.  Should the area look damaged, compromised or there is still some residual tumour remaining in the colon, he will cut it out, resection the colon and reverse my stoma.  If he find small nodules or lesions along my abdominal wall, he will biopsy them.

For any of this to occur, I must be chemo free for 2-3 months.  After the surgery, I will need a minimum of 2 months to recover, keeping in mind that healing goes well and leakage, infection or blockage does not occur. 

 

Thursday I met with my naturopath.  She ran her gauntlet of tests and I bombed my numbers.  Not surprising, as I have struggled to gain footing this round.  The chemo is doing its job but my body is slowly crumbling under the toxins.  We discussed what needs to be done and what I need to take in order to get stronger.

 

Friday was the appointment with my oncologist.  We succeeded in shrinking and containing the cancer!  I was advised that there could still be cancer within my body, but it is too small to detect on the scan.  When he met me in May of 2013, the cancer was actively spreading throughout my organs and I was in a very critical stage.  Now, it looks as though the cancer may be slow growing – what I’m going to call “dormant”. 

Given the great results from the PET scan, he agreed that now would be an opportune time to undergo surgery and that I am in a good position to take a break from the chemo.  My chemo treatment scheduled for Monday has been cancelled and I am officially placed on a break to recover and heal from the chemo treatments for the pending surgery. 

 

I am scheduled for a CT scan on September 23^rd.  This will be the scan that the oncologist will use as my future baseline for comparison.  I will still need to have my port-o-cath flushed every four weeks to ensure that there is no infection or blockage. 

 

After the surgery has taken place, there may be a role for continued chemo treatment and maybe not.  The oncologist has decided that I will be placed on what I am dubbing a “Maintenance Plan”.  Every three months I will go in for a CT scan and bloodwork to monitor the cancer.  If the cancer stays dormant than I will not need chemo.  At the first sign of growth, I will be back at the agency for treatment.  The protocol that I am currently on can be given to me again, but the cancer has to be dormant for a certain period of time.  If it recurs or progresses shortly after surgery, than we will look at another protocol, as the one I was on did not create a “durable response” (meaning the chemo should last for a period of time before the cancer grows again).  All of this will be re-assessed after the surgery.

 

I have had a very emotional few days to say the least.  It can be very overwhelming to be given a miracle and on the same day be told to keep in mind that I am not cured.  The my cancer will recur – it’s only a matter of time. 

 

So many decisions to make and I wonder if I will make the right decisions – so much can go wrong – yet so much can go right too.  I know that I cannot worry about what hasn’t happened yet.  If I do, all my strength and resolve will be depleted.  Now is the time to embrace my health and my life.  To stay positive.  To take this miracle of good news and relish in it.  I cannot predict or control the chance of recurrence, but I can control my diet, my exercise and my checkups.  I am demoting my cancer from disease to condition.  I can live with a condition.  A condition that still has many options for treatment.  There are many that have a condition where there is no treatment. 

So many prayers were said on my behalf and I believe God heard them.  “…and where two or more people say the same thing, I will hear them…”  I have been told that I am strong.  Well, I am only  strong because of my Faith and because I have had incredible support from my amazing family and friends and my Army of Angels.  And for that, I thank you ALL forever and sincerely.

 

Love, Angela xoxo