So my appt with Dr. Ciavarino went well today. Jason was with me, we were ready with our questions. He was very nice and very knowledgeable. He started the appt by explaining how to do the oophrectomy and I asked him why we wouldn't just do a complete hysterectomy and remove everything that is a potential risk for cancer. He said there's nothing wrong with doing that. There's a slightly higher risk of complication from removing uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries, as opposed to just ovaries and fallopian tubes. But it's totally reasonable to want to follow that course. I'm looking into this, asking my support group and a few other doctors, just to cover my bases.
As it stands now, my surgery is scheduled for February 16. I asked him why I can't wait a few more weeks so I can really heal from chemo and get my strength back up and he made a great point. Right now, my ovaries are shut down because of chemo. If I wait too long after chemo is over, my ovaries will start working again and I'll have all this estrogen pumping through my body, which we don't want. I'd have to start taking tamoxifen (which is the hormone therapy drug given to people who still have their ovaries) and then once I have my surgery, I'd have to switch to arimidex (given to people without their ovaries). I really don't want to go through having to switch my drug regimen and really it makes sense to just get this all over with. The good news is, by March 1, all the really hard surgery and treatment will be behind me. Then it'll just be my job to repair my body, rest and recover and gain back all the strength and stamina I've lost these last few months. And then I can focus on the reconstruction issues. The hysterectomy is an outpatient procedure (kind of crazy right?!?) Recovery should be a few weeks, but the good news is the whole thing can be done laparascopically so there won't be some nasty abdominal incision like a c-section. That made me happy to hear.
So now there are two dates to look forward to - January 27 and February 17 (the day after surgery). I'll have 3 weeks between these two milestones, and I plan to make the most of them....
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Hi Jen, Glad to hear that you are in the home stretch. For all that to be done as an outpatient probably means you will get more rest at home and re-cup faster. I hope you will be able to return to work (if that's what you want) and that the mundane issues in life are what you can focus on. Take Care!
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