Operation: Die Tumor Die!

When the time is right, the time is right!  Whether I'm having surgery in 2 months from now or 2 days from now, right?!  Well, I hate to rush things, but it's looking like it was "meant to be..." my liver surgery is in fact in 2 days from now.  Last week after receiving Dr. H's 2 Surgical Oncologist recommendations, I began the process of setting up my consultations.  I hate to admit it, but after meeting with one of the surgeons, my mind was instantly made up.  He was the one!  Dr. Kahlenberg gets the final rose!  The hoops and hurdles I was having to go through with setting up an initial consultation with Dr. Aloia was just too much.  I know that Dr. Aloia must be an amazing surgeon if he received a seal of approval from Dr. H, but over the last year I've also learned that your experience and interaction with the Doctor's staff and office should definitely be considered in your decision process as well.  

After meeting with Dr. Kahlenberg, I was sold.  I liked his demeanor, his confidence w/out being arrogant, he was informative, he was realistic with cautious optimism and I really appreciated the personal attention.  After several phone consultations... Dr. K with Dr. H, Dr. H with me and then me with Dr. K... we were all on the same page.  Not only did Dr. K have an opening this week, but it just so happens to be my week off on chemo.  Perfect timing!  I can have the surgery this week (having a higher WBC count than normal because it is my off week), recover and then continue on with chemo next week without skipping a beat.  Perfect!

So you might be asking, "what is it exactly that Dr. K will be doing?"  Well, it's a procedure called Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA).  Under local anesthesia, RFA is performed under image guidance (x-ray, CT or ultrasound).  A needle like RFA probe will be inserted in the tumor where radiofrequency waves will increase the temperature within the tumor resulting in TUMOR DESTRUCTION!!  Muahahahahahaha!!  

The procedure is scheduled for this Wednesday down in San Antonio.  I should be in and out of the hospital that day and after a few days of rest I should be back to my daily routine.  Now that's my kind of "surgery."  Unfortunately they weren't having any 2 for 1 deals to remove my ovaries at the same time (I need to talk to Groupon about this), but no big deal.  Getting my liver under control is our main priority so we'll deal w/ the ovaries at a later time.  

The crazy thing... I woke up on Sunday with "the pain" in my right side.  Yep, the liver quiver!!  The same pain that raised the flag that I had breast cancer... and this is no Pancho's mexican buffet!  To be honest, I'm not surprised at all.  If the chemo isn't able to reach this lesion AND the PET detected more uptake/cancer activity in this area... you know it's pissed.  I'm chalking this pain up to the tumor's F-E-A-R!!  This tumor knows that it's about to get a serious ass kickin'!!!