Peritonectomy Operation/survival

[Stitch]

Hi PA, I have had a long slow recovery. It has been a hard one as I have actually HAD to stop. I have read so many books done puzzles & slept. I have only got in to doing my course assignments over the past few weeks. The brain seams to have kicked in lol. It still takes me a bit to do things but I feel I am getting much better. I can see life around the corner again. We are also looking at some travel plans .... Where to go .... What to do .... How have you been travelling? I gobin to hospital in a week or two to see a lass who will have just had her peritonectomy. We are starting little group here in Brisbane. Support each other... Have a coffee morn. There are 5 of us at the moment. 3 have had the opp & 2 are about to have one .... All good & positive :-) Stitch (Gwen) Xxoi

[periMeso]

Hi Stitch, It has been a couple of months since the peritonectomy, and I am making an effort to drive to the shops every day and walk around. The back and shoulder muscles are getting stronger, so I know this is good pain, and I am slowly reducing the endone. The slow release equivalent oxycontin probably doesn't stay in the stomach for 12 hours, as I have seen other things go through much faster, like fruit in an hour, before coming out the illeostomy. I was only aware of St George Kogarah and Professor Morris doing the peritonectomy in Australia. I know people come from Western Australia New Zealand and South Africa for the procedure. I did meet a woman from regional QLD who loves the Professor for the effort he has put into her multiple surgeries, and for giving her life and hope when others said there was none. I come from NSW outside Sydney, so being able to stay at Bezzina House before the operation was great, across the road from St George, available to cancer patients and families for $43 a night.

[periMeso]

Things are good after a couple of months, I have no complaints about anything at St George Kogarah NSW. I first went home to family after about 3 weeks, but had a cyst in the abdomen which caused a fever from post operative sepsis shortly after leaving hospital. I was transported back to St George from another Sydney hospital, where they fixed me up in another 2 weeks. Because it is such a large operation, you have to give the body time to heal. They are very experienced at St George Kogarah at picking healing problems early and treating them. It is handy to have someone staying with you at Bezzina House on the night before the operation, so they can take your bags on the day. Otherwise they are reluctant to make a list of the contents and look after them for you at the hospital. Cancer patient family and friends can continue to stay at Bezzina House for $43 a night. The angio CT scan can be a good trial for the operation. You need to stay with someone overnight after the procedure, I went to family in Sydney, but could have stayed with someone at Bezzina House.

[Widget]

Hi Thanks for your reply. It is good to know you were happy with the Hospital. I had surgery in March and also got a cyst. I hope I do not get one this time! Great info about Bezzina House, I did wonder about that. What happened after your surgery? When did you come back to WA and did they give you the pathology results? Do you go back to 'watch and wait' scans? Sorry for all the questions! Widget

[Widget]

Hi Stitch Great news! I am glad to hear you are recovering, although slowly. Surgery really knocks you about more than you think. I hope you continue to feel better every day. I will let you know when I am having my op, sounds like probably August. Take care. Widget

[Stitch]

Oh wow I know the hospital in Sydney was the main one in Australia, but didnt realise people flew in from NZ etc as well to have it done there. The P.A only does 2 opps a month as it is the general hospital. You must have had your opp about the same time as me then as I am only 10 weeks out. I am well off the pain killers, but let the normal day to day pain tell me how much to do. I came home with a pain patch & endone to follow up as well but got off them as soon as I could so I knew how much pain I had or knew when to stop doing something. I was lucky & did not get an illeostomy but knew there was a 98% chance of having one. They took more bowel though. Hope we both get on with life as normal as possible. Here's to our recoveries :-) Gwen (Stitch)

[periMeso]

I returned home from St George Kogarah to regional NSW after the operation, but it would have been similar if I had come from interstate. They do get a lot of patients from WA. I don't know how I would have got to the hospital at 6:00am for the operation, unless I had been staying across the road at Bezzina House. As the sister of another patient staying there said, Bezzina House is a real haven. The surgery removed all the mesothelioma they could see, and the heated chemo during the procedure worked on the smaller stuff. Apparently mesothelioma doesn't give off chemical markers, so there is no blood test to tell if there is any left after a couple of months. I am about to start 4 cycles of IV chemo back home, and it is the same well tolerated carboplatin and pemetrexed as I did before the operation as palliative care. We will do more CT scans after this chemo. I am so glad I sought out Professor Morris at St George, because after the surgery there is hope for a recovery. After the peritonectomy I have a chance at life after peritoneal mesothelioma.

[Stitch]

I am glad you got your opp done & you have hope. Sounds like that Bezzina House is the place to stay :-) i am lucky that we only live about 10 min from the hospital that did my opp. I was admitted the night before. I had the HIPEC and 4 days of chemo internally as well. I go back for my check up on the 6th August, hope all has gone well. The surgeons were happy with the operation - that is pretty much all I know so far. Chin up - kick back & enjoy what we have. Gwen

[Widget]

Thanks for reply. I am happy to hear you sounding so positive, surgery and chemo is not easy. But I'm with you, if we are given an opportunity for life after disease, go for it with both hands. All the very best for your continued improvement! Widget

[Stitch]

Hey Widget Swim .. Find a heated pool & work those lungs, they are the challange after the opp. The stronger they are before the better :-) Resting I found hard as I am a doer .... Always on the go lol But now I think I have rested enough. .... But with this cold weather I could easily crawl back into bed lol. I lost quite a bit of weight. Some have said they lost 15 kilos. I lost 8 kilos but hopefully am putting on now. Go up & down by 0.4 a day lol. Hope I sit steady there now ..... Onwards & upwards ...... One day at a time ..... Best of luck mate xxoo Gwen