Hi Alysiak and thanks for asking how I'm doing. Unfortunately I am dealing with a recurrence once again and will have to travel up to Duke Cancer Center next month for surgery. The colorectal surgeons here in Central Florida who are "supposed to be" the tops in their field gave me two options, wait for it to become more invasive (WHAT?) or have a colostomy. There are other options for less radical surgery at this point yet I have to travel four states away to someone capable of doing the procedure. It is truly a disgrace in my opinion. I am hoping that once my book is published later this year, that it will have a significant impact both for lay people and healthcare providers.
There are 3 possibilities in terms of outcome for this surgery, 1) clear margins and close follow up, 2) positive margins with invasive cancer requiring more chemo and radiation or 3) positive margins for in situ squamous cell which would require a further resection and yet another trip to Duke. I wish someone could tell me why, as a patient, I should have to travel 1300 miles just to find someone competent to address this issue - terrible.
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Hi Alysiak and thanks for asking how I'm doing. Unfortunately I am dealing with a recurrence once again and will have to travel up to Duke Cancer Center next month for surgery. The colorectal surgeons here in Central Florida who are "supposed to be" the tops in their field gave me two options, wait for it to become more invasive (WHAT?) or have a colostomy. There are other options for less radical surgery at this point yet I have to travel four states away to someone capable of doing the procedure. It is truly a disgrace in my opinion. I am hoping that once my book is published later this year, that it will have a significant impact both for lay people and healthcare providers.
There are 3 possibilities in terms of outcome for this surgery, 1) clear margins and close follow up, 2) positive margins with invasive cancer requiring more chemo and radiation or 3) positive margins for in situ squamous cell which would require a further resection and yet another trip to Duke. I wish someone could tell me why, as a patient, I should have to travel 1300 miles just to find someone competent to address this issue - terrible.
May 19, 2009 - 8:11pmThis Comment
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