Surgery...AGAIN

4.9.14

Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks.  After we found out that Jimmy's cancer had metastasized to his lungs, we were hesitant to tell our son, Logan, what was going on until we had a plan in place with the doctors.  We waited almost a week to tell him, since he had a big week at school with state testing and a karate tournament that we really wanted him to focus on.  The Saturday after we found out, we sat down with him and told him that Daddy had to have surgery again and that it would take several weeks for him to recover.  At first, he didn't understand that the cancer had come back.  He and I talked later that day and he then realized that the cancer was back and that it wasn't good.  Its amazing what kids remember.  He remembered my husband and I talking about what if the cancer spread to his lungs several months ago. Logan seemed to take the news okay but I know that he is worried about his Dad.

I hate that Jimmy has to go through this again and so soon.  We were given basically two types of procedures to consider.  Surgery or Cyberknife.  We opted for surgery to completely remove the tumors and get them out of his body.  This was not an easy decision but one which we decided was best for Jimmy and for our family.  Here's a little more about how we made our decision.

We met with the surgeon to see what would be done.  The surgery will take out 2 tumors.  The first and largest tumor will be relatively easy to get to and the surgeon can remove it with a scope.  The second tumor might be harder to get to and the surgeon thinks he may have to make a large incision in Jimmy's back that will run under his arm to get to it.  He will also have to take a small piece of rib to do this.  A resection of his lung will be done at this site to remove the tumor.  This does not sound pleasant at all.  With any luck, the surgeon can get to both tumors with only the scope.  Recovery from the surgery will be anywhere from 2-3 weeks with the scope and 4-6 weeks with the big incision.  Ugh.

We did also speak to a radiation oncologist that does the Cyberknife procedure to see if this was a good option.  The Cyberknife procedure itself is non-invasive.  But, there is a needle biopsy procedure that has to be done prior to radiation and is requires a needle to be inserted into the lung.  This does have risks, which might cause Jimmy to be hospitalized with a chest tube if his lung were to collapse.  The Cyberknife procedure is also spread out over several weeks and will encompass a lot of time.  By the time the Cyberknife process would be over, he would have already recovered from the surgery he would have had instead.  Also, there is the exposure to additional radiation with this procedure and the tumors would still be in his body.  Given all of the information we received, surgery was the best option.

Now that is has been decided, we just wait until next week.  The anticipation of waiting is nerve wracking for everyone, especially Jimmy.  He is not looking forward to the surgery at all...not that I blame him.  I pray that all goes well and we won't have to deal with this again.  Again, I am asking for your prayers and support that we get through this next hurdle.

On a side note, the day after we found out about the cancer coming back, I was in the shower and Jimmy has a shaving mirror in there, I saw the word "Believe" as clear as day in the mirror.  I am taking that as a sign that all will be okay even though I haven't seen it again.  Jimmy and I had also planned a date night on April 17th. We have to cancel it but hopefully, we will be able to reschedule it again soon.

Also, my blog has now reached people in 50 countries.  I hope it has given insight, advice and comfort to others who may be dealing with cancer.  I appreciate your emails so much and my prayers go out to those who are also dealing with sarcoma.

I will update again after surgery.