Part 10: Happy Birthday! I Got You A Surgery

Part 10: Happy Birthday! I Got You A Surgery

The start of my 27th year gave me what I’ve been wanting since we discovered the Borderline Ovarian Tumors: a plan of action to become healthy again. We had our Post-Op #2/MDA follow-up/action plan appointment with Dr. C on Friday, December 6th. Overall, it went well. 

Dr. C said that my surgery marks are healing really well and should continue to blend in over time (though I kind of like my battle scars). He also agreed with Dr. Coleman from MDA that surgery should be the next step. While he said we could pursue treatment first, he recommended against it because A) we wouldn’t know for 5-6 months if it was actually working and B) it would give the cancer cells time to become resistant to the treatment before we are able to clear more of it out. Therefore, we agreed and scheduled the surgery for Monday, February 10th.

The surgery will be done with the Da Vinci Robot (laparoscopy) and will be a full hysterectomy. He will use two of the four original “poke marks”, and create two to three new ones a bit higher up, in between my abs. The purpose of this is to be able to reach the areas he couldn’t last time and clear more of the small “snowflake” tumors in my upper abdomen. The best part about all of this is the recovery time; despite the extensiveness of the surgery, he expects only a 2 week recovery! I’m not a fan of being immobile or restricted, so this convinced me to go ahead with this plan. While he is confident that this can all be done with laparoscopy, he did tell us that there is a 10% chance of conversion to open surgery; he promised he’d only do that if it became a life-or-death situation, so fingers crossed for the best. We will also start Hormone Therapy following surgery - we will get more information on this at our Post-Op.

While I have complete confidence in Dr. C and his team, I have mixed feelings about this next step. Not only will I be missing another week and a half of work (instead of two thanks to February Break!), but I’ll also be losing a part of me that I never thought I would have to. I have to accept that this surgery means I will never be able to produce or carry our own children, the entire reason that brought us to where we are. When I wake up from anesthesia, I know I will not be the same person I am now, and that scares me. On the other hand, I know that this surgery is one step closer to being able to ring that “cancer free” bell. It will also mean that my chances of all of this coming back or developing breast cancer in the future will be significantly lower, which I know would make my grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, proud. This is probably the hardest decision I will ever have to make, but I find peace in knowing that I’m doing this to ensure a healthy future with the ones I love.

I am going to fully enjoy the next two months of movement and health before recovery and treatment start. I’m going to enjoy my husband’s birthday next week, Christmas with family and friends, the arrival of 2020, birthdays, learning moments with my students, exercising again (I can finally do a plank again!), a glass of wine or two, and countless moments with those that mean the most to me. The following is what our next steps look like:

• Within the next 3 weeks: CT Scan (hopefully without IV contrast because of my allergy)
• Wednesday, January 29th: Pre-Op
• Monday, February 10th: Surgery
• Tuesday, February 25th: Post-Op #1