I just realized I hadn't come back to update. Some interesting and exciting things are coming down the pike. I met with a Dr. from Johns Hopkins who has developed a laser that will slice a human hair lenghtwise 100x! One of the biggest obstacles for those of us with primary peritoneal cancer (a form of ovarian cancer that adheres to the abdominal wall) is that it spreads outwards like a puddle rather than in clusters like grapes. Cancer like that is often inoperable because it can't be debulked, or cut away, easily. And frequently, as in my case, it covers major arteries. You just can't cut away a major artery like that. Anyway, this new laser brings the hope of being able to peel away tumors layer by layer that were thought to be hopeless. Like mine. Then, traditional or experimental chemotherapy treatments would be much more likely to work for me because there is less cancerous tissue in the body.
So, on the 15th, I am one of the lucky first patients (there have been about 50 before me) to have this surgery. It's minimally invasive, in/out same day and little pain (or so he says). Following that I may go into a medication trial. I haven't decided on that yet and they haven't formally accepted me anyway. So that's where we stand. Thanks to everyone for thinking of me. I'm tired but not quite ready to quit yet.