Action at last

Finally there is a plan of action to eliminate my cancer. I will undergo surgery on Monday, June 23, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. After all the waiting for results from each test, and having two different plans cancelled, it appears that the origin has been determined, and a consensus reached on the right approach.

We will get details from Dr. John Lurain at our appointment on Friday, but generally I know that I will have a complete hysterectomy, tumor removal,and colon resection. I don't yet know any specifics on follow up chemo, but there will be some.

So my month of just waiting to get on with treatment is over which is very good. But up until now I have felt fine except for being tired, and now I expect I'll have some pretty painful days ahead. Needless to say I think it will be worth the hurt.

Thank you all for thinking about me and keeping me in your prayers. So far I've been promised prayers - Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish - hopeful thoughts, positive energy, and to top it off, qi(chi) from the energy field of Chinese monks. How can I miss?

I'm happy to receive cards, notes, emails, calls and comments to the blog.

July 18 Update

Margaret's oncologist informed us yesterday that, based on his analysis of the July 11 biopsy, he thinks the initial diagnosis was incorrect. He thinks her cancer is not colon cancer. That is, it did not originate in the colon and spread outward but it came from somewhere else in the pelvic area and infiltrated through the colon wall. It may have originated in uterine or ovarian tissue. In light of this, he believes that surgery is the only reliable way to determine what type of cancer it is, where it came from, and how to treat it.

Because of the changed diagnosis and the need for surgery as soon as possible, Margaret will not begin chemotherapy and radiation this week as previously planned.

The oncologist recommends that the surgery be performed in a university hospital, and he is arranging for Margaret to have it at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Margaret and I will be meeting for consultation with a surgeon there on Friday, July 20.

July 17 Update

On June 15, Margaret had a colonoscopy that showed she has a malignant tumor in her colon. She has had a CT scan and a PET scan since then, which have produced good news and bad news. The good news is that the she has no cancer cells in her liver, lungs, or anywhere else outside her pelvic region. The bad news is:

• It appears that the tumor in her colon has grown through the colon wall into other nearby tissues and lymph nodes.

• She has an additional malignant tumor outside the colon in the lower rear part of her pelvic region.

Because it is uncertain whether the tumor in the lower rear part of her pelvic region is colon cancer that has spread or it is another type of cancer, she had a biopsy of that tumor on July 11. We have not yet learned the findings from the biopsy.

On July 13, Margaret and I met with an oncologist. He told us that he cannot make a final diagnosis until he has received and analyzed the biopsy findings. If it is colon cancer, his treatment plan will be:

• Chemotherapy combined with radiation treatments for six weeks to kill cancer cells and shrink the tumors

• Surgery in September to remove the tumors and nearby lymph nodes

• Chemotherapy from October through February to kill any cancer cells that are left

If it is not colon cancer, the treatment plan will be different. We hope to know later today or tomorrow.