'Twas the Night Before Surgery

Sadly, I don't have anything witty or entertaining to say tonight. I just want to say thank you to all of you who have called me, emailed me, lit candles for me, prayed for me (and my family), sent me cards, and those who have offered to visit me and bring us meals. One of my friends in Europe told me "there are candles burning all over Germany" for me. What a lovely mental picture that is! I am very, very blessed to have all of you in my life.

Pre-Op Discussion

I had my pre-op visit with Dr. Kooby today. He is such a kind man, and he has small children too, so he understands that my primary motivation is to watch Gabriel grow up. I have to be at the hospital at 6:30A on Thursday, and my surgery is scheduled to start around 8:15A. It will last about 3 hours. I will be in ICU that day, and he expects I'll be able to move to a regular room the next day (Friday). I will be in the hospital about a week. I'm very nervous, and scared, but the way I look at it is, after this surgery I won't have cancer anymore. All of this is a small price to pay to grow old with Danny and watch our son graduate from college.

A Ribbon of My Own and Yummy Cancer Research

Today, I was visited by the branch manager for the temp agency we use at work, and she brought me chocolate cookies with pink M&Ms in them. She said they were the “breast cancer awareness” cookies. I silently lamented the fact that I don’t have one of those sexy, glamorous cancers that get all the publicity. Why don’t I get a cutesy pink ribbon or a 2-day walk? What about us poor schmucks with liver cancer? Actually, if you want to be absolutely correct, I have “primary cancer of the liver”. Liver cancer is associated with other diseases of the liver.

But I digress…

So I look online for ribbons and their colors, and I find “The Jade Ribbon Campaign” in the fight against hepatitis B and liver cancer. Cool! Jade is a cool color! Then I check out the link, and it’s specifically a program through Stanford for Asian Americans who are apparently prone to getting this. There is actually an organization called the “Asian Liver Center” who is using the Jade Ribbon as their symbol. Jeez! Can’t I get a break here??

http://liver.stanford.edu/

So I come home and tell my sad story to Danny, who of course tells me I’m crazy (although he laughs). I tell him I worry about the color my ribbon might have. An icky brown color like the liver? No, Danny says, it should be a beautiful deep red color, since the liver serves as a filter for the blood. So I thought of a wine color. And red wine is supposed to be good for the liver! (in moderation, of course) I also thought of a color in the brown family, like tan or copper. I imagined organizing a fundraising walk for liver cancer, where we would serve paté at the rest stops. Or perhaps fava beans and a nice Chianti. (hope you got the “Silence of the Lambs” reference there)

So until the time where liver cancer becomes widely-publicized and glamorous, here is a yummy way I found to raise money for cancer research. These very nice people are cancer survivors and donate part of their profits to cancer research. And the cookies are delicious. I bought the citrus ginger snaps and loved them! Please check them out, and if you’re in the mood for the best ginger snaps you’ll ever taste, this is definitely the place to order from.

http://www.susansnaps.com/


And hey, does anyone want to design me a damn ribbon? :-)

Pre-Op

Hi, everyone.... I found out yesterday that I have to be at the hospital on Monday at 8:00A for my pre-operation testing and to meet with my doctor. I have a list of questions to ask, the first one being, "Can I be sedated as soon as I'm admitted to the hospital?" I also found out that on the day of my surgery, I have to be at the hospital at 6:00A. Ick. Anyway, I'm sure I'll have lots to write about on Monday.

Intro

Well, if you're reading this, you already know my news. On August 11, I found out that I have a cancerous tumor on my liver. To make a long story short, I went to the emergency room on July 12th for an odd pain in the right side of my abdomen. Not sharp or debilitating, just dull and constant (and different). They did a CT scan which revealed something on my liver. So after doctor visits, an MRI and a biopsy, we got the news. I've since been through a PET scan, mammogram, colonoscopy, EGD, and a pelvic ultrasound. All these tests/scans have revealed no signs of cancer anywhere else. This is very encouraging news! We met with two surgical oncologists, and decided to go with Dr. Kooby at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute. My surgery will be Sept. 25, and I will probably be in the hospital a week. My recovery time after surgery will be around 6 weeks. I will get more information closer to my surgery date. We don't know yet if I'll need to go through chemotherapy. I am still feeling well, which is the odd part about this whole thing. But I consider that a good sign. I will write more when I know more!