NOT anywhere near as bad as people told me. The chemo experience of a friend or relative may be completely irrelevant and nothing like yours, because CHEMOTHERAPY is DIFFERENT for EVERYBODY. and of course it would be different for you if it is a different illness being treated with different drugs. You might get the drugs that are very easy to tolerate. Waste of worry. Even if you know the names of the drugs you will be using and read about all the possible side effects, nobody gets ALL the side effects, and some people get none. ... View more

This direct chemo in the peritoneal cavity seems a powerful way to do it. You get concentrated chemo exactly where you need it. I was told it is not easy to do repeat HIPEC because there is not much space in the belly after the operation. I read in one study they used only one litre. What is 5fu? A drug name? As an oncologist told me last week, the treatment using chemotherapy for peritoneal mesothelioma after a peritonectomy is largely uncharted. We have to make decisions about treatment based on limited information. Compared to before the peritonectomy operation my life is also a lot easier and comfortable because there is no ascitic fluid to worry about now that the peritoneum is gone. ... View more

At least in Australia we don't have to worry about paying a fortune for the chemotherapy drugs, thanks to the work of peritoneal mesothelioma hero Bernie Banton, who got the Australian Government to pay for them on the PBS Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The general public perception of chemotherapy is negative, but the important thing to remember is that chemotherapy is different for every person. I found the mesothelioma drugs Carboplatin (longer and slower acting than Cisplatin) with Pemetrexed (Alimta) to be very well tolerated. No nausea or vomiting, and my hair did not fall out. The HIPEC used during the surgery of Cisplatin and Doxyrubicin did make me shed a little hair when brushing, and it was only in the open cavity, and not even in the bloodstream. After the peritonectomy surgery for peri meso, patients usually use Cisplatin usually 4 cycles 3 weeks apart. One oncologist told me that he didn't prefer Cisplatin over Carboplatin as there are studies to show the effectiveness of both. Another oncologist picked Carboplatin, and that is what I am going to use. Does anyone have experience or opinion of either Cisplatin or Carboplatin with Pemetrexed? ... View more

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. ... View more

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. ... View more

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. ... View more

I did the peritonectomy this year 2012 too at St George Kogarah. ... View more

Diagnosed 2011, peritonectomy 2012. ... View more

Professor David Morris and the peritonectomy team at St George hospital Kogarah NSW Australia are doing about 2 of these procedures a week for about 6 conditions including peritoneal mesothelioma. Patients come from all over Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. Probably the biggest operation you can do, you can have confidence in the St George team. Many hours in surgery and a long careful recovery. Thank you to everyone involved. The peritonectomy with heated chemotherapy during the procedure, followed by chemotherapy is the best practice treatment for peritoneal mesothelioma. It provides an improved prognosis to those patients that undertake it. ... View more