Well I must again apologize for the long delay in getting this information out.  Our family had a Disneyland trip planned (long before the cancer diagnosis) and I just didn’t have a lot of new information, or time to get something written.  And actually that’s probably not being very honest either… frankly… I just procrastinated getting this posted… haha.

Anyway… My surgery date is set!!  One week from today… on October 11th, 2018 I head in to the hospital at 5:30 am to have my right hemicolectomy, and probably some other parts biopsied, followed by exploration for any further disease.  If they find ANYTHING… they remove what they can (hopefully all) and follow up with a HIPEC procedure (the heated chemo bath for my abdominal cavity).  Obviously we’re hoping they find nothing… and if that’s the case… I’m 80% sure I’m NOT going to have them proceed with a HIPEC procedure.  I say 80% because there is still a week before the surgery and I’ve bounced around quite a bit.  We just haven’t heard anything that convinces us that doing the HIPEC without any sign of disease will help to prevent recurrence.  On the contrary… it really only adds to a high probability of complications that are involved with the surgery… and I still have the same chance of having a recurrence.  So I keep asking myself… why risk the high chance of complications for zero chance (or zero evidence) of helping my odds? 

The alternative argument is really about treating a very aggressive cancer with a very aggressive procedure.  If the procedure kills one little unseen cancer bastard… isn’t that one less little cancer bastard that may grow in to a tumor later?  Why not go as aggressive a treatment plan as possible?  Trust me… I’ve thought about this a lot… and depending on the day or the week or the hour… I’ve completely agreed with this line of thinking.  I think my problem (currently) is that there is just no evidence that doing a “preventative HIPEC” (that’s what we’ll call it… lol) will help to prevent recurrence.  I still might have a recurrence and I might not.  I feel like it’s almost like saying that I should have gone in 10 years ago and had HIPEC in the hopes it would have prevented the disease from growing.  Now we can’t say for sure that it would have stopped it from growing… but it might have.  But why in the world would I have done that?  It would seem insane for a disease free person to have the HIPEC procedure.  The risk of complications and side effects are very high… and unnecessary.   The only reason I’m thinking about it now is because I actually have had these cancer cells in my body… but there is no evidence that having the procedure with no signs of disease actually helps.  If they could show me even a 5% decrease in recurrence… I’d most likely be in.  But they can’t… there just aren’t enough studies and never will be due to the rarity of this cancer.

So I’m at the point I’m at now… where I’m saying no HIPEC if there isn’t any more disease.  Which may be a moot point if they do find something… lol.  It’s a bummer I spend all this time thinking about a decision that may never come to pass… lol.  (But I’ve probably spent just as much time in my life trying to decide which Porche I want to buy… though I’ll most likely not be buying one any time soon.)  This may all change… and I’ll be sure to update with any last minute decisions.

So Monica and I head out to San Diego on Tuesday morning.  I have an appointment with the Dr. Baumgartner and the anesthesiologist that afternoon.  On Wednesday I begin some type of bowel emptying proces… which is probably T.M.I… but I figured I’d mention all the plans.  And then I check in on Thursday morning at 5:30 am.  My understanding is that they plan the whole day for the surgery… just in case I need the HIPEC.  So it’s kind of crazy to think that I’ll lay down on the gurney, and when I open my eyes… I’m going to find out quite a bit of information.  My colon gets 1/3 shorter… and my insides either get a hot spa day… or they don’t.  After that… we send the removed portion of colon and anything else that was pulled out off to the pathology lab… and hope it all comes back negative.  Apparently that will take another week or two… so that sucks… but I’ll be preoccupied with recovery at that point, so I’m sure it will go by fast.  (Or maybe not… lol… might be quite boring laying around… we’ll see.)  

There you have it… The date is set and my decisions are made… for now… lol.  I may try to post once more before the big day… and obviously during recovery I’ll have some time… so i’ll update then as well.  Thanks to everyone for all the support so far… It’s been immeasurable and amazing to have you all behind me… And as I’ve said… I’ve got this!!