diVinci Surgery next Thursday...

[Laurie1913]

and I am terrified.  Right ovary is tumor or mass wrapped, found out in December when I was hospitalized with meningitis!  I then had another ultrasound the end of March and now it is wrapped in TWO tumor/masses.  I have been okay with this 3 week wait for surgery, but now that it is less than a week away, my emotions are all over the place.

Has anybody had the di Vinci surgery?  Please tell me everything you can about it.  I know the recovery is much quicker, which is good.  Is there alot of post surgical pain involved in it?  Were you an inpatient?  My gyno/oncologist is wonderful, I feel like I am in good hands.

However, she did say that the Pathologist will do a freeze biopsy and if there is one cancer cell, then they open me up.  I won't know until after surgery is over.

It is the fear of the unknown for me right now.  The doctor is not convinced it is cancer, but what would it be?

I had a hysterectomy 11 years ago, but they left the ovaries as they were still functioning for the hormone side.  This surgery, they will remove both ovaries as she said they are useless to me at this point.

I am 51 and scared.  Thank you.

Laurie

[HVAC]

The known is the worst part. It is good it is Da vinci. With me they said no robot for you we are opening you right down the middle and taking ovaries, fallopian tube, uterus , the omentum (lining of your organs), and possible your bladder, and colon and may be part of your liver. This was all from an ultrasound. I was in shock to say the least. My surgeon was known for the robot so I asked why he was not using it on me. He just said I had cysts not cancer and they had to come out that way. I did not think the recovery was as bad as it could have been. They did have to take part of my rectum. Gas pain was the worst part for me. They wanted to put in an epidural pain pump but I refused. I hardly used the morphine pump since it constipates. I was in the hospital ten days they put a port in for chemo the second day. I had six rounds of chemo and I am back to my life.

Make sure you have loose fitting clothes and a big robe. I made photographs of things that make me happy. Vacations, my family, friends, pets, pretty art work. I look at them over and over with my Ipod with music I like  to do this before and after surgery it helps put me in a calmer place. I think about things I like to do like riding horses.

I had a surgery Friday and it was delayed and I kept myself calm using these things.

This whole thing is a shock but no matter how it turns out you take it one step at a time. In my case the worst case scenarios have not played out. I have rare cancer which does not usually respond to chemo but I am in remission.. The not knowing was the worst part of the illness. Once I knew what I was dealing with there were things to do so you are busy.

Getting a care pages or lots of helping hands page helps. People can sign up to help you with things. That way you do not have to ask the same people over and over. I also found a local Cancer Support Center which has been great. They have classes, yoga, massage, a lending library, and support groups and peer counselors ( Folks who have had cancer.)

I hated this thing but I found it was not as hopeless as I thought. I just thought why bother I have cancer. Now its like okay I have Cancer.

Hopefully you do not have cancer or if you do the catch it early.

Having a good doctor is half the battle.

Alex

[expectingandhopeful]

You are not alone and many women are in the similar situation. I just got my CA 125 results yesterday and they are very high so the tumor that is on my ovary is most likely cancerous. I have a surgery next Friday and it can't come soon enough, I have been waiting for a month now. I am scared for myself and my four kids. They need mother to take care of them :-( I am hoping it is only in my ovaries and can be removed and treated with chemo. I wish you all the best!!!