Surgery has been Scheduled!

OK. I had my appointment with my surgeon Dr. S. today. Everything went rather well. She is very pleased with my response to the chemo so far, especially the disappearance of the ascites (as am I!) She was also unable to palpate the abdominal mass that she noted before, leading her to conclude that it has shrunk considerably.


On May 11th I will be having another CT scan with contrast and another doppler study of my legs to see where I stand with the blood clots.
If everything goes well, I will be having my debulking and staging surgery done on May 30th.
If the clots are not resolved I will be seeing a vascular surgeon for placement of a IVC filter prior to the surgery.
She actually wants me to consult about getting the IVC filter placed regardless, and I agreed to see the vascular doc and hear him out on the subject.

Getting an IVC filter is not without risks so I want to be sure, especially if the clots are no longer an issue.
I realize that with any surgery, particularly abdominal surgery clots are always a risk so I will probably concede to the experts.


She had me go to the lab for another CA-125.I'll probably know the results Monday. Hopefully that number has decreased as well.
So I'll be finishing up my chemo with this 3rd cycle starting Monday. It is going to be done in 2 visits instead of 3 (half again as strong a dose x2) so I'll have some recovery time before the surgery. I'll resume chemo for 3 more cycles sometime after surgery.


So there is is! We are all systems go for now and I am going to concentrate on a healthy diet and exercise as tolerated to hopefully shorten my recovery time.



Have a lovely afternoon everyone,
Love, Dixie

UPDATE-After some nervousness and reflection I spoke with Dr. S. again about getting an IVC filter and we have agreed that if the dopplers are clean we will forgo this procedure.
Sometimes it just all seems so overwhelming.

(((hugs)))
Dixie