The countdown to surgery

On Wednesday, March 11, thanks to our UofL connections and friends, I was accepted as a patient of Dr. Donald Miller, Director of the Brown Cancer Center on the UofL Health Sciences Campus. I personally know two cancer survivors who were treated by Dr Miller. They have only good things to say about him, as does everyone else who has met or been treated by the man. Read about him here: Dr. Donald Miller.

Upon meeting him for my first visit (March 17), I immediately felt comforted. After all the travails that led me to this point, I finally felt safe. I know I'm in good hands.

He ordered a biopsy under (another) CT scan to be drawn from my big tumor in the center of my abdomen. He wanted to confirm the diagnosis -- in fact, after hearing of my adventures with the gastro and others, he said "you don't have a diagnosis yet." I did the CT biopsy without incident on March 19. Worst part was the wait AFTER the biopsy procedure: they were concerned about bleeding, and I had to wait for 4 hours in a recovery room. Thankfully, the NCAA tournament started that day and I was able to watch basketball and chat with the staff for distraction.

March 20 I had a PET scan: Sat for 90 minutes while an IV-injected radioactive sugar circulated throughout my body, then I just lay in the tube for 30 minutes. Simple and easy. And expensive! I'm getting high dollar treatment.

Follow-up visit with Dr. Miller on March 21 was about 10 minutes long:

• biopsy confirms the diagnosis

• my case has been quite a topic of conversation at the Cancer Center all week

• I need to see a surgeon, and get surgery scheduled.

• Just prior to my visit, Dr. Miller had called a surgeon that he said he "would send my own son to"

• He had already scheduled me to see the surgeon at noon THAT day. Good man. Powerful man.

So, I met the surgeon that day. Got some facts on what to expect (see the sidebar for surgery and recovery estimates), and began the process of preparing. What a ride it's been.