Since you last heard from me, we have been on the craziest roller coaster ride of our lives. On February 11th we got the news that Larry's scans came back with 'no evidence of cancer'. As you can imagine we were thrilled! We knew Lar had one more surgery left-to reverse the colostomy bag and then be done with this cancer thing for good. Surgery was schedule for March 1st. Before the surgery was scheduled, Larry went in for a colonoscopy to make sure the colon and the colostomy was still healthy. During the procedure the doctor found another site that he thought may be cancerous. He took a biopsy of the area. On top of that, the doctor was only able to go 12 cm in without getting resistance. We went from putting our hands in the air while enjoying the roller coaster ride to holding on for dear life. After a round of chemo, the last thing you want to hear is that there is still cancer. And the thought that the colon may have twisted or turned and that is why the doctor's scope would not go through would mean another surgery to repair it and no reversal. The March 1st surgery was cancelled. Once again we held our breaths for the biopsy results and Larry was scheduled for a dialated anastomoses for March 4th. This procedure was to further investigate why the doctor was not able to get through the colon.
The biopsy came back negative, and yet again we let out a huge sigh of relief. The dilated anastomoses worked and they found absolutely nothing wrong with the colon, it was scar tissue from the previous surgeries that was blocking the colon. Another huge sigh of relief. We were anticipating another surgery date for the reversal of the colostomy bag (easy peezy), so we could be done with this cancer thing for good.
Dr. Salti was on board and wanted to take the 'monitor and see' approach-just the reversal surgery. However, after Dr. Salti and Dr. Stein talked it was determined that Dr. Salti would do an 'exploratory' surgery to take a look and see if he spotted any cancer with the possibility of another HIPEC. And hopefully reverse the colostomy. This is not what we anticipated or expected. We thought it would be a simple reversal surgery, however Dr. Stein wanted to be more aggressive and didn't want to take the 'monitor and see' approach. Since we have been on this cancer journey the greatest comfort we have had is that Larry is in the best care with the team that we assembled. We needed to trust their decision. After our disappointmet and shock wore off, we wrapped our heads around another major surgery with the possibility of the HIPEC. Although, Larry healed like a rockstar after the last intense HIPEC procedure, I did not want to see him go through that all over again if he didn't absolutely need it.
So...I am typing this from the waiting room, while Larry is in surgery. As he was wheeled away to surgery, we have no idea what he is in for, and 2 hours into the surgery we still don't know. As always I will keep you all updated on the outcome of whatever surgery he is currently enduring. It's kind of like riding on space mountain - we are in the dark and don't know when there will be a twist or turn.
Sox it to it, Lar....
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