The story so far...

Hello everyone,
Thanks for coming. Can I get you a drink?

Welcome to my blog. As many of you know I'm going under the knife in a couple of days. Tuesday, Nov. 11th at Highland to be exact at el crack o'dawn. I've created this blog to post information about the surgery and what's going on so I can get a jump on the tabloids. I don't want to see my face splashed all over the checkout aisle magazine racks with "Famous allergist goes back to rehab!" or "Dr. Bif's botched boob job!"

Now you see the downside to blogs. Just wait until I really get going. Let's talk for a minute about that patient who was questioned by her pharmacist about a medication she has taken for years so she decided to call me about it SUNDAY AT 8:00 AM! What is wrong with people?

Ok, and back to me. After all this is my blog and you're just priviledged to be in it (heh, heh...blog humor). Again, as many of you know I have been to the ovarian cancer rodeo several times. The last time was just over a year ago. I finished treatment for that recurrence in April of this year. Five months later I limped through a half marathon. It wasn't pretty but none too shabby considering a pre-training hematocrit of 30.

I get regular blood tests for CA-125 which is a marker for ovarian cancer (although other things can elevate it). My post treatment level in April was 15. On Halloween it jumped up to 215. BOO! I had a CT scan which shows a pancake like mass near the bladder and the rectum and covered with some loops of bowel. It is not possible for interventional radiology to stick a needle in it to confirm that it is a malignancy. Therefore the dynamic duo of Drs. Angel and Caldwell are going in Tuesday morning to biopsy and remove if possible. Here are the possible outcomes:

1. No cancer. Whahoo. Details of the huge party I will throw to follow.
2. Cancer and it comes out with or without a permanent colostomy. (I already did this once for 6 months. I can poop into a bag and watch TV simultaneously. It's called multi-tasking).
3. Cancer and it can't come out. Too many adhesions or other problems. Dr. Angel is quick to point out that this is not a death sentence. I would be treated with chemo alone.

There will certainly be chemo after the surgery even if the mass is removed. There may be complications because the surgeons are going into previously irradiated tissue and it doesn't heal well. Dr. Angel thinks I may be in the big house for a week.

Alain will take me to the hospital on Tuesday. Ann will man the fort (with Morgan) for a little while until the kids get up. Alain will come home after I go to the OR. Vicky our intrepid nanny will come over Tuesday so Alain can come see me after the surgery or so Sam and Alain can go to a movie. It's Sam's birthday on Tuesday (I know, just shoot me).

Please don't call the day of the surgery unless you would like to listen to me drool. I'm pretty sure I won't be up for visitors that day yet either. It's ok. I know you're all out there sending good vibes. A couple friends have offered casseroles this week and I'm going to the store tomorrow so I think we'll be good. I will post here if we could use any food. Our freezers are kind of full right now so a deluge of comestibles would actually be a problem.

That's all the news now. I'll have Alain update while I'm at Highland. Thank you all.

Beth

p.s. Dr. Bif is an old nickname of mine. It's from my initials, BF. We used to initial everything when I was a medical assistant. Dr. Fine, an impossibly British doctor with wire rims and a goatee looked at a form just after I started working and said, "who the hell is Bif?". It changed to Dr. Bif once I went to med school.