A New Dawn

This is the view from my back deck as the sun rose over glistening snow there were a few scattered large glittering flakes that softy fell to the ground.  It was stillness and magic.  That glimmer of magic was probably really formed from the glimmer of hope my doctor gave me Thursday night.  He had news that a surgeon from the NIH (National Institute of Health) had completely reviewed my case and wanted to talk with me, he needed my permission to share my contact info which of course I gave.  Now I had been told back in December by both my primary and my second opinion oncologist that surgery was not an option so I did not want to hope too much.  

Friday Morning I had a conference call with Dr. Blakely and his 2 nurses.  He is a specialists in gastric restructuring surgery.  It will involve some extensive surgery with removal and resectioning large portions of my liver and a distal gastric bypass. But his goal is to remove most and possibly all of the cancer.  I was stunned!  Even if he is unable to remove all of it I have such a slow moving cancer that removing most of it will give me back some years of life.  Possibly a decade or more, that would give time for them to find a drug that works on my version of Wild type GIST tumor.  He has ordered more imaging through my doctor and will then conference with me on more details and specifics of the surgery.

Short term I will be going to Bethesda Maryland for the surgery.  I will need to stay in the Hospital 2 weeks.  Possibly more if any complications. Then 6 -8 weeks of recovery where I will not be able to work.  With the gastric bypass there will need to be some nutrition changes and I will need to consult with a nutritionists for the dietary changes.  Physical activity I can go back to walking/hiking in 2-3 months.  I won't be able to paddle or run or do activities with abdominal twisting for a while longer, though I will be able to do them again after full recovery.

The further good news is since this is experimental surgery through the National Institute of Health, my procedure is completely covered. I thank you greatly for this boon.  There will be some travel costs and Steve will need to stay in a hotel while we are out there but it is small potatoes compared with surgery and hospital fees.

So cheers my friends!  Here is me with a champagne glass toasting a new dawn.  A new possibility.  Here is me daring to hope again, and still I will savor each day and be grateful for each moment I can continue to marvel and enjoy this big beautiful world we live in and all of my family and friends.  Thank you to all my family and friends for your kind words of support and love and prayers.