Good morning, sorry I didn't get back to you on Friday. It was a hard day. I had a pitty party for myself when we got home from the hospital and ended up sleeping from 6pm until the next morning.



Ok, here it is...

My team of doctor's are Dr. Cardenes(radiation), Dr. Helft(Chemotherapy), and Dr. Robb(Surgeon). Dr. Helft is the doctor I will continue to see even after my final treatments of chemo are done.

We met with the chemo oncologist, Dr. Helft. He was great. He explained everything about the chemo/radiation, surgery, and then the follow up of just chemo. He explained that the radiation works much better with a little bit of chemo. On Monday morning, we go to IU med center and they will put me under to insert the chemo port (somewhere in my shoulder). After that I will have a PET scan in the afternoon. I will return on Tuesday to get my chemo pump that will automatically drip through the port until Friday. I will also get my first radiation treatment. The radiation doses are low so that they kill bad tissue but lessen the amount of good tissue damage. The radiation will continue everyday of the week, Monday-Friday, Friday being the day that the chemo pump comes off. So for 6-8 weeks, I will arrive on Monday at IU, get a new chemo pump, have radiation through Friday and have the pump removed on Friday (not the port, it stays).



I think I mentioned that my hemoglobin level was quite low. On Tuesday after radiation and starting the chemo pump, I will my day with a blood transfusion and an iron infusion...that will take approximately 5 hours. It will be an extremely long day. I hope I can sit that long.



The statistics that Dr. Helft gave us was that with chemo/radiation, surgery, chemo treatment, the recurrence of local cancer (anywhere in the rectal/pelvic area) is 5-10%. For recurrence of cancer in a distant location (another organ, most likely the liver or lungs) is closer to 30%. If I all I did was surgery then the chances of recurrance locally is about 30% and distantly is about 40-45%. The worst news he had to say was that if the cancer came back in a distant location, it is not cureable, only treatable.



If the cancer doesn't come back in the first 3 years, it is 75% likely not to return. If it goes 5 years with out recurrence, the percentage moves to like 98% not to return at all.



The type of cancer that I have is typical of this area so they know how the best way to treat it.



After all of this information from Dr. Helft, we met the surgeon, Dr. Robb. After examining me, he told us all that there was no way to save any of the function of my rectal area. It is all about LOCATION...After the 6-8 weeks of chemo/radiation, I will have about 6-8 weeks of rest before surgery. Surgery could last anywhere from 3-8 hours depending on what the do when they get in there. If the ovaries or uterus need to come out, he will do that. Dr. Robb will have multiple doctors in surgery with him. He will have a plastic surgeon ready if there is reconstruction needed, however he usually does all of the reconstruction himself unless it gets to complex.



He told us that this is a very delicate area for women...there is the bladder, the urethra, vagina, lots of blood vessels and nerves that could potentially be damaged (that if they aren't already damaged by the radiation, yippy). Recovery from this surger is anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months.



After surgery, they will wait before starting the last procedure of chemo, I think it is high dosages...assuming that there are cancer cells hiding somewhere else in my body. They will administer one dose every 2 weeks for approximately 3-4 months.



So in a nut shell, I start chemo/radiation this week, I will be tired but I shouldn't loose my hair, probably can't spend a lot of time in the sun, but I will be able to resume normal activities as I feel like it.



In approximately 14 weeks from now, surgery will result in a colostomy with no chance to reconnect function, there may be other things they take out as needed. Recovery will probably be long (BUT I will be at every one of Jake's football games, probably standing).

One other thing that Dr. Helft suggested other than low impact excersize is to eat a Mediterranean diet. This consists of fish and poultry, fresh fruits and veggies, and whole grains. If anyone has good receipes let me know!



So I am thinking sometime around late fall, I will start the chemo.



Even though the CT scan did not show any evidence of cancer anywhere else, they are treating like there could be. All of the oncologists said that without a great surgeon to remove all of the cancer cells, they can only treat me so it is all about CURE. I loved my doctors, I pray we are in the right place. I trust them to be aggressive and get all of the cancer out and I will deal with what I need to afterwards...I want to thank all of you for your support, prayers, and kind words. Lord knows I way to ornery to let this take me down. By far, Friday was the hardest day, but after my pitty party and good nights sleep, things aren't stopping me from fighting.