Back from surgery

In fact I have been somewhat remiss. We have been home since last Wednesday night. The surgery seems to have gone well; in fact immediately afterward Dr. Nissen told Jen I was "rock solid stable." However, it was extensive surgery, and the aftermath is not over. The day we were to leave, Dr. Nissen came in, looked at the big incision in my stomach (21 staples, vertical), said "that's not good" and pulled out about 10 of them in the middle, revealing an open wound. He explained that if it healed with a pocket it would have a tendency to collect liquid and would not be good. So he informed Jen that she would have to pack the open wound with gauze twice a day. She said, "You're kidding," but he finally talked her into believing she could do it. And she has. The wound is healing from the inside out.

On Monday we ran out of the good gauze and had some uncertainty, so Honore, the nurse, asked us to come in to the office. She said the wound was looking good and gave us some softer gauze. Things are going OK, in short, but full wound healing will probably take another couple of weeks. Then chemotherapy. I don't know how often I'll feel like posting, but I'm here and all right.

Surgery coming soon

We went to see Dr. Nissen, the surgeon, and Dr. Sokolov, the infectious disease doctor, associated with Cedars-Sinai, today. Based on the PET/CT scan and other tests, they decided I'm a good candidate for Whipple surgery, and together we decided to do it. The date hasn't been set yet -- somebody else had to be consulted about Dr. Nissen's schedule -- but we should know tomorrow and it should be in the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to it pretty confidently. Based on the PET/CT scan the cancer hasn't spread, and this surgery should eliminate all the malignancy. Some of the research we did suggested that one should seek a doctor who is experienced with Whipple and does 5 or 10 a year. Dr. Nissen often does four a week and participates in international symposia. He's a nice person who inspires a great deal of confidence.

The main thing for the rest of our time at home is to build my strength for the surgery. I'm eating well and will do more walking and yardwork. I'm also doing lung exercises and playing the clarinet for the first time in some years. Feeling confident.