Surgery

February 9: I was finally given the surgery date: March 23rd. A bit further out than I would like but the doctor wants my white blood cell count to be higher. This gives me more time to recover from the chemo treatment. Some of the details of the surgery are a little different than we heard. The doctor expects it to take between 6 - 9 hours. He also told me to expect to be in the hospital for 7 - 8 days. After that, full physical recovery could take up to 6 weeks. I was expecting the recovery time but the surgery time and days in the hospital are double what I was prepared for. It's still sinking in but I'm ready for this next step.

Next Step

February 6: I had a full day of tests. Blood draw, CT Scan and hearing test. The hearing test indicated some hearing loss in the higher frequencies. But not enough loss in the conversation range to warrant hearing aids. The Oncologist later told me that the ringing may get worse before it gets better. She also told me it may be up to 18 months before the ringing lessens and it may be with me the rest of my life. The blood test - tumor markers were negative. The CT Scan still showed at least three tumors that haven't shrunk much since the last CT Scan done one month ago. Because of the teratoma element in the original tumor (that's not treatable by chemo), I need to have the surgery. An exact date hasn't been decided but should be by tomorrow. My white blood count is still low and the surgeon wants to let some more time for my body to recover from the chemo. The surgery will happen in the next 3 - 5 weeks.