Well, the day has come that I was hoping wouldn't... My cancer has decided to make another showing and I need to have another major surgery...

There is a spot that we have been watching on my scans for probably over a year now that has started to grow and has caused my CA-125 number to jump up again. And the worst part of it is that it is causing extreme back pain for me. I was somewhat secretly hoping that the back pain was the result of a pinched nerve caused by a bulging disc or something in my spine but it turns out that it is being caused by this tumor getting bigger and putting pressure on my ureter on the left side (the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder). The tumor is measuring about 3x4 cm in my latest CT scan.

I met with the surgeon at Huntsman on Wednesday and we talked about the procedure that he would like to do to remove the tumor. I will need to be opened all the way again so that they can get a good look at everything and remove anything else that they see that isn't appearing on the scan. In addition to that, they will most likely have to remove a section of my ureter (they are assuming that it has been compromised because of the tumor) and then reattach the remaining section of the ureter back into the bladder. Because of this they have had to coordinate the surgery with the urology oncologist so he can do that portion of the surgery. I will be in the hospital for 4-6 days and will come home with a catheter in that will stay in for 3 weeks (sounds like fun). The reason for the catheter is so that the bladder doesn't become overfull and compromise the surgery site.

And then after all of the surgery and a couple of weeks for recovery, I will get to do 6 rounds of chemotherapy again. This time around though they will use a different drug that doesn't cause hair loss and neuropathy - so that is a plus. The chemotherapy will be separated by 4 weeks instead of 3 like last time - so a little more time for recovery between the rounds. I'm also hopeful that they can do my chemo sessions at the South Jordan clinic which is about 5 minutes from my house, instead of the downtown clinic which is about 45 minutes away.

Overall I think I am okay with everything. More than anything I want to be free of this back pain that I have been suffering from. I have been trying everything I could think of to try and relieve the pain - exercising, stretching, heating pad, pain medications - and nothing has really helped. And it turns out that it is all being caused by my kidney! I can usually stand the pain during the day but it gets progressively worse as the day goes on and by the end of the day I am usually having a hard time managing the pain - and nights are the worst! I have not been sleeping well at all for the last couple of weeks - I just can't seem to get comfortable. My medical oncologist gave me a prescription for hydrocodone which I have been taking at night and it has helped a lot. I have finally been able to sleep some.

I just found out today that they were able to schedule my surgery for Tuesday, August 22nd. (They were shooting for the 22nd or 29th.) I am glad that they were able to schedule the earlier date except for the fact that it is the first day of school for my 11th and 7th graders. The other 3 kids start the next day so I will miss the first day of school for sure for them. I will not find out my surgery time until the day before the surgery.

I will fill in more details as I find them out.