6 december 08

diane took me over to the city on friday morning for my "prepare" appointment at UCSF, blood was taken, EKG performed, BP, etc, & i talked with a couple of very nice ladies. the nurse who was taking blood was telling me about living on a boat with 5 cats.

9 december

surgery day. was rescheduled to 11am instead of afternoon, a good thing, didn't have to spend the whole morning starving! no solid food all day sunday, then sitting on the toilet for hours emptying my bowels, great fun. dr.chan & a bunch of other folks came in to see me before surgery, including the anesthetist jill, loved her! felt i was in good hands. after jill added her "joy juice" to my IV, i didn't remember anything else until about 3:30pm when i regained consciousness. diane, lissa, & kellie were waiting & gave me a round of applause when i was wheeled by, on the way to my room. they stayed all evening visiting, & paul hellyer came by later too, but i don't think i was very good company, very doped up. but so happy to have them there, felt so loved. dr.chan had given his report to diane, lissa, & kelly, they said he was elated about how well the surgery had gone. he said the big tumor had been in ovary, not fallopian tube at all, but he was able to take everything out laproscopically anyway! & it looked to him like it was contained & rest of abdominal cavity was clean. he took lymph nodes & other tissue for biopsy, results in a week.

10 december

when another doctor came in to check on me, i said i was amazed dr.chan didn't have to cut me open, & she said "we're ALL amazed! he's a GENIUS with the camera." wow. did i get the rite surgeon or what. recovery will be much easier than if he'd had to cut me open.

12 december

it was like heaven being back in sausalito after 2 nites in hospital. they don't let you sleep. & when i was awake, there was no view. & don't get me started on the food! i was SO glad to be out of there & beginning my recovery at diane's -- comfy couch for napping, view of the bay, great food!

15 december 08

had to get off vicodin early 'cos i was getting rashes, possible allergic reaction. so have been dealing with increased levels of pain that tylenol can't keep up with, but also increased levels of mental clarity!

thankyou thankyou to everyone for all the loving support - which i know helped with the very positive outcome! (i hope it keeps coming, i still haven't heard biopsy results from lymph nodes...)

& it wasn't all about surgery while i was here -- had some really good times as well!

19 december 08

came home to a call from UCSF with results of what they called the "pelvic sweep" - all benign, no cancer in lymphnodes or omentum! interestingly, they said the ovarian tumor & the cancer inside uterus were 2 different cancers, not one spread to the other, both stage 1. they (apparently a "tumor board" at UCSF, a dozen doctors who read the files & give an opinion) still want to do chemo however. i'll have to talk to some more people about that.