Chemotherapy, Radiation, and Surgeon Appointment

Kathy started Chemotherapy and Radiation on Monday.  It took a while since it was her first time but now that everything is set up things should go much faster.  Her PICC line was put in on Friday and she said it was painless.  She goes to the cancer center on Mondays and they will dose her “fanny pack” for the entire week and then she goes in on Saturday and they remove it until Monday.  This type of chemo will not have many side effects other than nausea and fatigue.  She will do radiation every day (Monday-Friday) but it takes less than 5 minutes.  This round of Chemo and Radiation will be done on 6/21.

She had an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday, the appointment went well.  She has another appointment with him on 7/18 and they will schedule a surgery date then. It will most likely be the end of July or early August. They've found if they wait a few weeks after chemo and radiation the tumor will continue to shrink.  The surgery will be done in Portland and she will be in the hospital for 5-6 days after. 

They also talked about doing a permanent colostomy.  He is leaving this decision up to Kathy.  He said that he can do his best to re-attach the colon; however, there are side effects to this, including numerous bowel movements and increased chance of infections.   He gave her all of her options and said she can take all the way up until the morning of the surgery to decide what she wants to do.  He said that many people have colostomies and you don’t know it.  In fact he treats a 30 year old male patient with one that is very active in sports and it doesn’t affect him.

Kathy has been treated so well through all of this.  She can’t say enough about all of the Doctors and Nurses she has seen.  They have all been so kind to her.  She knows she is in great hands.

Thanks again for all of your support and prayers.