Boston tomorrow

Hi All -
We leave for Boston tomorrow. Rick has to have a repeat of one test on Monday and then go through the pre-op routine again. Tuesday he meets with Sugarbaker. One yucky part is that starting Tuesday morning he can only have clear liquids. He checks into the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, and the surgery is scheduled for Thursday. Keep those strong thoughts and prayers coming.

Someone asked what the surgery would consist of. At a minimum, they will remove the left pleura. He has some adhesions from the surgery he had in March, so they were unclear about how much of the lung they might or might not have to take. If, after they are operating, they feel they need to take the whole lung, then they will remove the left lung along with the left diaphragm and some of the pericardium. We are hoping that that doesn't happen, but if it does, then we will focus on being happy that they are able to get all the meso out! That surgery leaves a big opening, and from what I have read, they put in gore-tex to keep the intestines and heart from moving into the open space. Honestly though, these people at the International Mesothelioma Program (IMP) are doing things are so new, they aren't talked about in the "layman's" books I have been reading.

One thing they do is to take tissue from your personal biopsy and test it with several different "cocktails" of chemo to see which is most effective with the particular tumor you have. Also, after surgery they flood the cavity with hot chemo because they find warmed chemo is much more effective - and it is an opportunity to target the chemo at the exact place it needs to be. I imagine all this will be very hard on the patient, but they have good success.

So, all is good and we are moving toward Rick starting his recovery. We will keep you posted as the week progresses.
Sue