Tonight marks my 11 year anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. I actually did not find out until the 27th as I was too drugged up after my surgery but it was 11 years ago today that the first of many carcinoid tumors were cut from my body. It has been a long journey and there have been some very rough spots but, unfortunately, the rough spots are not yet over.
Over the last few weeks/months, I have been experiencing stomach cramps and rumblings/grumblings in my stomach that can be heard from 10 feet away at times. These have continued to increase in frequency and intensity and, two nights ago, I had nausea and threw up some dinner, 8 hours after eating it. What all these symptoms indicate is that my bowels are becoming obstructed.
I am still passing stool so I am at best only partially obstructed. A CT scan I had this morning confirms this as I have distended loops of my small intestine but no evidence of complete obstruction. A partial obstruction is not life threatening but it can become so if it turns into a complete obstruction as I experienced back in March of this year and 11 years ago. It does, however, need to be resolved.
Since it is not resolving itself and is just becoming more and more intense, surgery is the only real option. To this end, we are making plans to return to New Orleans in about 10 days to have surgery to relieve the constrictions, leading to some significant relief for me. We could probably wait but waiting could lead to my condition deteriorating (weight loss, weakness, ...), making surgery more risky and recovery longer and more stressful.
Fortunately, I am within 6 months of going off of long term disability (LTD) and I will be able to return directly to LTD without any issues. We checked with the Hope Lodge in New Orleans and they have many openings so Stephanie will be able to stay there rather than having to pay for a hotel room.
Surgery should be trivial compared to the three days and 22 hours I experienced back in May/June but it will be major surgery which is never a trivial decision. We are hoping that, besides relieving the partial obstructions, we will be able to have the stent removed from my bile duct. Furthermore, it would be wonderful to get the tumors around my rectum resolved but, since I will be squeezed into their surgery schedule, they may not be able to do this.
What are the plus sides? Well, getting rid of the cramps will be wonderful! Also, I will not get to ski until I have recovered but that should be around the end of December which is right when the snow is finally getting good! If they are unable to address the other tumors, I will have another 6 months to recover and make plans for follow up surgeries and be able to return to LTD without penalty.
