My name is Vicky. I live in Colorado. I'm 43 and a divorced mother of two. I'm a medical transcriptionist, and a writer. Less than two weeks ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs, and I don't have a family history of colon cancer. Writing is my way of dealing with and processing what I'm going through. This blog is a way for me to do that for myself, my family, and anyone else who might benefit from it.

Friday, November 28, 2014

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2014

It’s 4 weeks until my surgery.  The surgeon’s office called to let me know they’d received and sent back the paperwork for my short-term disability.  While I had them on the phone I asked if they’d ask the surgeon a question for me.  I wanted to know if it would be possible for him to remove my external hemorrhoids since he’d be working in that area anyway.  You know, two birds and all.

They got my surgeon, Dr. Strobos, on the phone and he explained that that wouldn’t be a good idea to do a full hemorrhoidal procedure because there isn’t much room in between the area of the hemorrhoids and the location of the tumor.  And he said, “You’re going to be in so much pain anyway and I don’t want to cause you more pain.”  (Ooh!  Not something I wanted to hear!)  He explained he'd be cutting the blood supply to them anyway and that might take care of them.  "We can see how they look later on."

It was nice of him to go out of his way and take the time to explain it all.  By the way, I don’t know if I mentioned it early on in my blog but this is the surgeon who everyone, including the first surgeon I consulted with, said is the best.  He’s the one who is certain he can eventually reattach my colon without having to leave me with a permanent colostomy bag.  Even the other surgeon admitted she wouldn’t attempt it because she isn’t sure she can do it.  Something about how few centimeters they have left to work with after cutting and removing colon and part of the rectum.  All this medical stuff is fascinating to me.  I’m just glad I’m not a doctor.  I remember asking him why he can do it when no one else can and he said, “Oh, it's just because I’ve had a lot of experience.  I've just done so many."  

By the way, to be medically and technically correct, I should explain that my type of surgery will be a "diverting ileostomy" not a colostomy.  The difference is that a colostomy is an opening for the large intestine, while an ileostomy is an opening for the small intestine.  Because my surgeon plans to reattach my colon some time after I heal from the cancer surgery, he will be making a temporary ostomy using my small intestine to expel waste.  That makes sense, giving my large intestine time to heal up.

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