Everything took longer than expected and then we still had to get my meds at the store. My falling twice at the hospital certainly didn't speed up things. But, we are finally home.
The cardiac surgeon basically described what is termed as the "minimally invasive" deal I had mentioned this morning. But, no need for the robots. They will put a couple of small holes through the ribs and work tools and cameras in to get to the thing in her chest. It is approximately 2 centimeters long and oblong in shape as it sits on her inside chest wall next to her heart. it is pressing on her heart sac. He firmly believes--without question-- it is a Lymphoma. In his mind the only real question is what kind.
During the surgery he will biopsy the thing. Theoretically it should be determined right then and there whether or not it is a Lymphoma and what type. If it is cancer, as expected, he will leave it alone and most likely not try to remove it as that raises the risk of spreading the cancer.
If it is not cancerous, he will make the determination what to do with it depending on what it is. Seems to me, as a non doctor type, that something that is growing and pressing on the heart sac should come out--no matter what it is--but, apparently things are not that simple.
Sandi also has some scar tissue in her lungs from the mess last November--especially her right lung--- and that has to be worked around and possibly removed. In all likelihood he will also have to put another port into her chest to make it easier to start the chemotherapy again. Sandi is not happy about that because the last one caused so much pain and she has significant scarring from it.
As of right now the surgery will be sometime next Thursday afternoon. Exact time it is planned for is up the air at this point. Next Wednesday she will have to go to the check in stuff, fill out paperwork, and give blood, etc. so they can have everything ready for Thursday afternoon.
Needless to say we are both pretty upset and worn out. We feel a little better about the actual surgical aspects now that we know how the procedure will be done. The hard part is knowing that it, most likely, is a return of the cancer which means she was only in remission a few months. And even that was not as long as had been thought because the cancer had to have been back awhile to get to where we are today.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Please understand it is going to take me sometime to catchup on e-mail, Facebook, etc. as I am just worn out.
Kevin
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2 comments:
This sounds tough but doable. I hope it all works out well and that the growth turns out not to be cancer.
I think it should be doable as long as nothing strange happens, Bill. If one thing goes a little haywire that could lead to additional complications and that in turn would lead to other issues. If everything goes right and he does not have to put in a chest tube for drainage too, she would be in for only one night and be back home Friday evening.
He is sure it is cancer. If it isn't I am not sure what he will do. Leaving it in causes one set of issues and taking it out apparently causes another. At least, the way I understood it today, he can tell during the surgery right then in the Heart Hospital whether or not it is cancer. How he determines that--by microscopic examination, staining a sample on a slide, or what I do not know. But, if I got it straight, unlike what happened last fall when they did stuff and and to wait days for the results to come back, he will know right then and there what it is.
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