I’ve made it through all 23 weeks of IV chemo as of yesterday! Just a little worse for the wear but doing well considering the amount of toxic waste that has been flowing through my body since May. I am relieved and grateful to have this part behind me. It seems as if this year has just flown by:

Phase 1 – Surgery to remove first tumor and right hemi-colectomy. (Feb 2010)
Phase 2 – 23 weeks of IV chemo to knock the second tumor down to manageable size. (May – Nov 2010 with a short break for lap surgery)

Now, I’m gearing up both mentally and physically for Phase 3 – cytoreduction surgery + HIPEC on Nov 30th. MOAS as they call it. The “mother of all surgeries.” Or “shake and bake.” Makes it sound like more fun. I do have one more CT scan on Nov. 23rd so another quick trip to Houston to check out the latest.

We’ve rented a furnished apartment about one mile away from the hospital since my doctor says to plan on at least a month stay (in hospital avg. 21 days, out of hospital for post-op stuff 7 -10 days). Doug, my mom and I will be leaving for Houston on Nov. 28. My brother, Bruce and his wife, Brooke, will be moving back from Italy just in time to hang with the girls and have some fun for the first two weeks of December until school is out. Then it will be vacation time and who knows where anyone will be. In Houston for the holidays!

In the meantime, it’s almost Thanksgiving. A perfect time to tell you how grateful our family is for all of you. Your listening ears, the visits, the meals, the phone calls, cards, notes of encouragement, every little bit of thoughtfulness that you have sent our way has meant so much. And a big thank you to all my doctors, PAs and nurses, both at M.D. Anderson and my local doctor, nurse practitioner and chemo nurses. They have also made this journey as optimal as possible.

It does take a village! I only hope I can pay it forward big time.

Paulette @ TX Oncology

Emily @ TX Oncology