Surgery

I had chemo that Monday.  The doctor came in to see me.  "Lets do one more treatment then lets get this thing out of you."  Wow!  I was so ready to get that done.  I went to an appointment with a cardiac/thoracic surgeon at St. Lukes.  He was probably 40ish.  Something about him left me unsettled.  He approached me as if I was a hopeless case.  I don't think I can get it all, it is in a difficult spot.  When I get scared I start to shake uncontrollably.  Well I was sitting in front of the grim reaper dressed like a doctor.  I left not feeling to confident in his ability but was told he was an excellent surgeon.  So they are going to spread my ribs apart and cut out part of my left lower lobe of my lung and take the lymph node next to it.  It is right next to the pulmonary artery. Oh great!!  Tear that puppy and its all over.  I would be in surgery for several hours and be in the hospital for about 5 days.  All this said, I was ready to get it over with.  In August, I underwent a lung resection.  Boy oh boy was that something!  The doctor told Chris they had gotten everything and the margins were clear.  Great News! Chris asked about the lymph node.  "What lymph node"  He had forgotten to take the damn lymph node.  This was unbelievable to all of us.
 I had every line known to man in me.  The day they pulled the chest tube out I thought I was done with then and there!  I screamed, "OH GOD!"  All I could think about was the fact that I wouldn't have to go through that again.  I continued to recovery ever so slowly.  I went home as planned and felt super by week two.  Four weeks after surgery we went on our Honeymoon (Maui).  One week soaking up the sun and relaxing.  We had an amazing time!
As the months progressed I continue to do follow up visits with my oncologist.  He would draw blood
 (CEA level).  This is a level for colon cancer.  It is a tumor marker that tells if there is potential cancer growth.  I received a phone call indicating that my level was elevated.  My oncologist appeared to be frustrated and couldn't figure out where it was coming from.  My husband convinced me to seek a second opinion at MDAnderson Cancer Center.  I agreed after much convincing.
Be right back, I have to go carpool now:)