So I'm getting a few worried texts and emails asking why I'm being so quiet. Really it's because I just don't think I've got anything interesting to say, but I realize that given my condition people tend to think I might be dead if I don't make any noise :) So here's just a short update...
- I have completed the 1st of 3 planned post-operative chemo cycles. Having the new port is great - so much better than having someone make 5 or 6 attempts at finding my veins. So far side effects have been minimal but it tends to be cumulative so fingers crossed for the next two cycles
- The plan is to complete these 3 cycles and then do a PET scan in late Feb / early March. That scan is a big deal because it will tell us whether there is any cancer left in me after the surgery and clean up chemo, and whether it's spread at all. Obviously those scan results will determine what happens next. Best case - I get a NED (No Evidence of Disease) result. Worst case cancer is not only still present, but has spread further.
- I will almost certainly do more chemo even if I get a NED result, just because of the bad pathology results.
- Surgeon plans to do the 'reversal' surgery (reconnecting my small and large intestines) when I finish chemo - whenever that is. I'll be glad to see the back of "the bag", though I'm pretty used to it now.
- I'm attending a week long residential program called Quest for Life in early February - basically a course to help folks with a bad medical diagnosis wrap their heads around it and adjust their lives accordingly. It happens to be in the Southern Highlands which is the area we're thinking about buying land, so I'm planning some reconnaissance too.
- I really want to spend the next few months before the 'big scan' doing something interesting / constructive. Toying with some ideas but open to suggestions too. Challenge is that I can't predict how I'll be feeling on any given day, so needs to be flexible. Will share my plans to commit myself :)
Hope everyone reading this is happy and healthy and settling in well to 2018.