It's alive....IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!

i think that's the line from Frankenstein. anyway, the pre-op appointment. well, it wasn't exactly what i was expecting, but each time i switch to a new specialist, that is pretty much par...they say they have talked to each other, but usually by the time i see the next one, it is 2 weeks and 100+ patients later and they don't remember shit. this time was no different. i was under the impression from dr doom that the surgeon, whom i will refer to as dr. cold fish, considered the kidney operable now...thus the pre-op appt. silly me to assume that having a pre-op appt. meant you were a candidate for oh, i dont know, an operation?!!

once i got in to see dr. cold fish, he began by going over my scan and saying that the kidney was still not "ideally" operable. he said that the mass surrounding the vein and artery that connect the kidney to the aorta had significantly been reduced, but there was still approx. 2cm of cancerous "stuff" surrounding it and he would not know if it was possible to get the kidney out until he was in. he was reluctant to consider surgery at that point and we all kind of looked around at each other like "wtf". then he called dr doom and after 10 minutes of very big dr. words and debate of a couple options, he decided to move forward. basically, dr doom is concerned that the effectiveness of the sutent has almost run its course and that if we are going to attempt to get the kidney out, now is the time...before my progress begins to reverse. he also said that my obgyn onc surgeon (dr. T) is fairly certain that the ovary is cystic in nature and just needs to come on out. dr. cold fish said "that thing is huge...it's like you're pregnant." i said: "yeah, pregnant with a period." he's right, that thing sticks out like a big ole grapefruit..i will be happy to get that out.

so, since they want to get the enlarged ovary out of me anyway and there is only a small window to do surgery now since theoretically i am near the end of the effectiveness of the sutent, he is considering me an emergency case, adding a day of surgery to his already booked month of march and working on getting me scheduled for emergency open surgery on march 17th. (maybe if i tell everyone i am irish i'll get lots of extra stuff for st. patty's day.) he is going to reschedule all of his appointments and said, with authority: "I will get OR time." as of today, this date is still tentative because they don't have dr. T on board yet, but they wanted to let me know what day they are shooting for. that said, there will be an update to confirm all of the details once i have them...date, time, location, etc.

surgery details: (turn away if you are sensitive to gore...parental guidance is advised)
they will have to cut me from sternum to pelvis, wide the hell open. dr. T will remove the ovary and then he will remain to assist dr. cold fish while he attempts to do his thang. together they are Team T. (nothing very original there...both of their names start with T)

A side note: originally, dr doom said dr cold fish would only be removing the kidney, that he would leave the surrounding lymph nodes, but as dr. cold fish was dictating in his little recorder thingy, he said "Radical Nephrectomy".....definition: Surgery to remove an entire kidney, nearby adrenal gland and lymph nodes, and other surrounding tissue.

surgery could be anywhere from 6 to 8+ hours from what i have read, but who knows. when they close me up, they will be using a "zipper" method...thats what dr. cold fish said into his little dictation recorder anyway. i looked this up and it is pretty cool. the link is below if you want to see....its not gross...its an illustration. sorry about the asian characters, some of the paragraphs are in english, so you can get the gist of it. i will be in the hospital for 4-6(?) days if there are no complications. the recovery period is approx. 6 weeks.

http://www.medizip.com.cn/prodprofile_fr.html

so, needless to say, i am going to be partying my ass of for the next two weeks....well, as much as i can without overdoing it. then, bring on the drugs...and dont hold back, bring on the GOOD ones...i dont want to feel a damn thing!

well team bean saver, that's about it for now. the next cancer chapter of my life is about to begin. live long and prosper! (that's a shout out to all my geek buds!)