Hello again

Last fall, Linda developed a small hernia near where her belly button used to be. This was not a total surprise; Dr. Temple (our Calgary surgeon) had mentioned the possibility of this occurring. It continued to grow slowly during the autumn. Linda showed it to our family doctor and, since it was causing minimal discomfort, the decision was made to keep a watchful eye on the little beast.

That approach changed on New Year's Eve when the hernia developed a small rupture and viscous fluid began oozing out. A CT scan was done and a 4.8 cm suspicious mass was discovered. What swiftly followed were a multitude of referrals - from our family doctor to a Vernon surgeon, from him to the the cancer agency in Kelowna, from them to their sister agency in Vancouver. And we asked that the CT results be forwarded to Dr. Temple. Imagine our surprise when Dr. T called 2 days later. He congratulated Linda on going almost 6 years without a PMP recurrence and said he would return from his sabbatical to do her surgery if she chose to go to the spa (Tom Baker Centre) in Calgary. We also heard back quickly from the Vancouver Cancer Agency. It was decided that a PET scan was needed to confirm the suspicions. So, this past week, we drove to Vancouver (clear, dry roads all the way there and back) for the scan and a consultation with Dr. McNeill, the PMP specialist there. Yes, the suspicions were confirmed and Darth Invader has returned!  On Monday, we fly to Calgary to meet with Dr. Temple and his team on Tuesday morning. We're hoping we'll come home with a plan which in all likelihood will involve a similar operation (cytoreduction and HIPEC chemotherapy) to the last one done in the fall of 2010.

We plan to use this blog to keep folks up to date.