There are three major surgeries, and one incidental surgery, within the overall surgical plan for me. On June 15, two surgeons will operate on me-- I am not sure who will go first. In the first major surgery, the colon surgeon, Dr. Weiser, will remove my right colon in an open-incision procedure that will take about an hour. In the second major surgery, the liver surgeon, Dr. Jarnagin, will remove the two cancerous lesions that have been identified on the left lobe of my liver, one of which is in a difficult location from a surgical point of view, plus any other cancers that he may find on the left lobe. In the incidental surgery, Dr. Jarnagin also will remove my gall bladder, because it's "in the way" of the liver surgery. Finally, Dr. Jarnagin will tie off a major source of blood supply to the right lobe of my liver, in order to make it atrophy, which will increase the regeneration of the left lobe of my liver. The third major surgery will be performed by Dr. Jarnagin six to eight weeks or more later: He will remove entirely the right lobe of my liver. The idea is to cut out all discernible cancer in my body and leave me with a large enough liver to avoid liver failure. The liver will then quickly regenerate. Although I do not yet know if I am to receive chemotherapy between procedures, chemotherapy will resume sometime after the third major surgery, as the odds of recurrence of the cancer are high. (It is my understanding that, when cancer is said to recur, it actually was not completely eliminated from the body.)
The surgeons' expectations for June 15 are that, not including preparation time, the colon surgery will take about an hour, and the liver surgery will take at least three hours. After the surgery, I will stay overnight in the recovery room and then be moved into a hospital room. I will be gotten up to walk starting the day after surgery. A couple of days after surgery, I can begin to take liquids and, after a few more days, solids. I will have a device which will, within limits, enable me to administer my own pain medication. Six days to two weeks after surgery, I will be released from the hospital. It will take six to eight weeks or more for me to regain strength and full powers of concentration. During the initial stages of my recovery, I will be under instructions not to lift anything heavier than a newspaper or a glass of water. Eventually, following recovery from the second procedure, I can look forward to resuming a normal diet. Dr, Jarnagin told me not to give away my wine collection.
As I learned only eight days ago that surgery was a possibility for me, I am still adjusting my thinking to this new course of action. It seems to me that, even though the June 15 surgery is an important event fraught with risk, it is intended to be but a part of a multi-stage process. I have to be to be prepared mentally to stay the course in a multi-year marathon, while being thankful for life each step of the way.
