Well here we are on the other side of surgery. I went in to MGH on Wednesday Oct 14 and my amazing surgeon removed the tail of my pancreas and my spleen. This is no easy procedure, let me assure you of that. I spent 2 days in PACU and then moved to a room on Friday the 16th in the afternoon. I remember parts of those few days but mostly I remember pain, not being able to lay down because I could not breathe and I slept a lot. I did not eat for days and drank sips of water and flat ginger ale. They get you up and walking right away.

Each day got a little better. I had some complications. The biggest issue was they discovered my one remaining kidney suffered more damage than originally thought during the great immunotherapy attack in March. The kidney was working overtime to flush out the fluids from my body. This is great but I was so dehydrated they were loading me up to try and fix that. On Monday I was on a 6 hour IV drip of electrolytes to help my body recover. But there was that poor kidney working overtime. Such a balance. We will have to watch this kidney for awhile but so far so good.

I came home on Tuesday the 20th, 7 days after surgery. My sister was here with me once again doing anything and everything she could to help me and make my return comfortable. I will say again and forever that I could not have done any of this without her. And I would not have wanted to. I love you.

The biggest challenge I face right now is eating and drinking. Often I am not hungry at all. Nor do I want to drink anything. But I have to. I learned very quickly that carbonated beverages need to be slowly sipped and not gulped. As for food, I can have anything but I also learned that I must eat slowly, very slowly. The biggest hurdle is knowing when to not eat another bite. If I eat one bite too much, the pain in my stomach is brutal and lasts for a long time. One bite. Sometimes I’m successful and others not so much. I’m learning.

I have countless doctor appointments over the next several weeks and months. I’m sure I’m in for a scan or two here and there! Am I cancer free? Well that’s a good question. The two tumors are gone. But there is the risk that rogue cells remain hanging around. We’d like to think I’m good but we also need to be realistic. My surgeon tells me it will be awhile before I ring any bells and declare complete victory. Until then, I will continue to learn to live with this new body and carry on with my recovery and my life.

I have places to go and people to see.

PS….I had the BEST roommates this time around. A woman had been riding her bike and was hit by a car. Broke 8 ribs in multiple places. She was so kind and so sweet. Her husband came every day and often went out for food or coffee or whatever. He never left that room without stopping to ask me if he could get ANYTHING for me. They were wonderful and I wish them the best.