Surgery Consult Report

Just got home from lunch with Holly and Rene after the surgery consult.

Holly went with me to meet Dr. Constant, whom we both really liked. He was very direct. What he said was at best, the surgery might give me 5 to 9 months of freedom from recurrence, but that the surgery would definitely result in a lot of discomfort and would mean I'd have an open wound for the rest of my life along with the possibility of infection, the need to have drains in it, possible edema in my upper arm and various and sundry not-nice stuff. That was certainly enough to dissuade me from having the surgery, but he finalized my decision when he said, "If you were my brother, I would advise you against having it."

In a way, I'm relieved, as I was worried that if I had the surgery, I'd experience a lot of discomfort recovering from it and then, too soon, the cancer would recur somewhere else, if not in the same place. Now I know I can have my art show, go on my cruise, come home and make more of my art, and just enjoy my life. I feel very strong in my body, and frankly, my gut says it is far from my time to die. I plan to be around for awhile and to be fairly active during that time, so don't cry for me, Argentina, and don't count me out yet.

Oh, and be sure to come see my art at Cafe Sophie! Love to you all.

Chemo done today; results are mixed

I'll be having my last chemo infusion this afternoon. I've managed to bounce back from all of the rounds this time around and the tumor has shrunk down to a very small size.

HOWEVER, it has not disappeared completely as it had done by this point the first time, 2 years ago. Dr. Liu is worried that it will start to grow again as soon as the chemo drugs have left my body, and that this could result in considerable pain, and interference with the use of my right arm. Further chemo is of no use and radiation is still not an option. Fortunately, the CT scan I had on Tuesday shows that it has not spread anywhere else in my body and that the mass is not entangled with any ligaments or tendons in my armpit. Therefore, Dr. Liu and the radiation oncologist think it might be a good candidate for surgical excision.

So I'm changing merry-go-round horses yet again and consulting a Kaiser surgeon (James Constant) on 10/31. If he thinks surgery is a good idea, of course we'll move on that ASAP, to catch it before it grows again, and so I can be healed and ready to fly off to my cruise on Dec. 7.

Looks like I will in fact be the artist-of-the-month at Cafe Sophie, across the alley, for the month of November. With all that's going on medically, I can't promise an opening reception, but if there is one, I think it will be on Friday, Nov 4 in the evening. I'll post about that when I know more.