Surgery Imminent (Imported from benvscancer.com 09NOV2015)

09 November 2015

Next Monday, I head down to Portland to prepare for surgery on Tuesday. A week and a half ago, I visited the surgeon’s office, signed consent forms for the possible contingencies, and went over the procedure. Last week I did some research on the surgery, and the numbers aren’t very encouraging, at least at first. The open style esophagectomy, which they used to do, has a mortality rate of 10% in the first month. Yep, 10% of patients that have this done die soon after. This drops to 5% for the minimally invasive surgery, which I’m having done, and drops further if the surgeon is experienced, which mine is. Also, my age (36) helps a lot. I’m the youngest patient most of the people working in that office have seen.

I found out what tubes and so on will be sticking out of me when I wake up (always good to not have that surprise you) and that I should be staying there for 8 days. They did some blood work and an EKG to make sure I was in shape for the surgery as well. A few days later, they told me my white blood cell count was low (as it was throughout the chemotherapy treatments) and they wanted to check that again. I had blood taken today to do that. I’m hoping that will be okay, but they apparently have a shot they can give me to boost my white blood cell production if needed.

I’ve been prescribed an adjustable bed, but I’m not sure how to go about getting it yet. I’m still looking into that. That’s probably the part I’m least looking forward to, not laying down again ever. Removal of the esophagus will involve part of the stomach too, and the sphincter that keeps the stomach acid where it should be will be gone, so if I lay down, I could aspirate and develop pneumonia (which stomach acid in your lungs is apparently a bad thing.)

I’m also not looking forward to having a liquid diet on Thanksgiving, but I am grateful that we found the problem when we did, and that they are able to fix it rather than just sending me home to die. I’d rather drink my dinner for a week than die.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No news, just feelings (Imported from benvscancer.com 23AUG15)

23 August 2015 As the title suggests, there’s nothing new here, so if you’re looking for more news, you can go back now. Tomorrow I start the chemotherapy and radiation, and honestly, I’d rather not have to. I’ve been reading the information provided by the doctors, clinical studies, blogs, listening to podcasts (Jesse vs Cancer – not family friendly by any means), and hanging out on some forums, but I still feel like I’m not prepared for this. Despite how many people go through cancer and cancer treatments, it’s a disease that is very isolating. I have no idea what to expect tomorrow, and that’s partly because the treatments are very personalized. Bloodwork is done, and then the drugs are prepared tailored for exactly how you are that day. You may experience neuropathy, you may not. Your hair may fall out, it may not. You may end up with a different color hair after, or curly or straight, or you may not. You could get constipation or diarrhea (but not both) or you may not....
Read more

Waking up early (Imported from benvscancer.com 14AUG15)

14 August 2015 July 10: I went in for my upper endoscopy, and possible dilation of the stricture, not a big deal, but it was the first time I had an IV, and the first time I’d had anesthesia. My mother let me know that she often is more sensitive to the anesthesia than they expect, so I let them know that. The anesthesiologist was eccentric (as I expect they all are) but I had complete confidence in him. I asked how long the procedure should take, and they told me the endoscopy would be about 45 minutes, and if they were able to dilate the stricture it would be another 20 minutes. I was looking forward to being able to eat a piece of pizza or a McDonald’s cheeseburger after the procedure. When I woke up, I asked what time it was, and it was only 50 minutes after the procedure had started, so I knew there was no cheeseburger in my future that day. My wife and four kids came in. They had been at the park next door to the hospital for the procedure. The doctor told me that he found...
Read more

The Start of a Long Journey (Imported from benvscancer.com 13AUG15)

13 August 2015 July 1, 2015: A supper like any other. A cheeseburger with my wife and four kids. Unlike others though, I couldn’t swallow the cheeseburger. I choked on it, and coughed half of it back up in the sink. My dad, who has Barrett’s Esophagus, said “You’d better get that checked out.” Two weeks later, I had my diagnosis. After I cleaned up from supper, I went upstairs and messaged my doctor asking for an appointment (Hooray for the online patient portal!). The next day I had one for the day after that. I went into the office on Friday morning at 7 (right next door to work, so I wasn’t even late) and he set me up for a barium swallow at the local hospital the next Monday morning. I went to work, asked for the time off, and prepared for my routine exam. Monday came, I did the barium swallow, they could see that I was having trouble right then. By the way, (TMI alert!) you poop out heavy poops for a week after that. Little white things that sink right to the bottom of ...
Read more