Not for open forum at this time ....
Several folks have inquired privately about Chris' status, and we're especially grateful for the concerns and kind thoughts and prayers. Apologies that this is a cut-and-paste from my private communications.
Chris recently had her first routine colonoscopy, and the doc saw something he'd never seen before in his career; It looked like an inverted appendix (as if someone had pushed the appendix inwards), but he really couldn't tell. He referred us to a different doctor who felt that there might be something else going on, but he was scratching his head until I mentioned that Chris had lymphoma in the 80's. The latter was treated with 10 weeks of daily head-to-toe radiation, during which time Chris lost all her hair, fingernails and toenails (they grew back).
It was a bit of a surprise to find out 25 years later that there might be something similar going on internally. Chris is scheduled for surgery 7.30am Wednesday this week to remove the appendix and part of the cecum. We leave home around 4.00am for a 5.30am admission. The OR is reserved for 3.5 hours. Chris took care of all the tests, scans, lab work, pre-op, pre-admission, etc last week. Today and tomorrow she's on a liquid diet.
We met with the surgeon last Friday, and he explained the CT scan showed the presence of "a mass". The doc said he'd have a pathologist on hand during surgery and if, when he removes the appendix and part of the cecum, the mass is cancerous, he'll remove more stuff. So, surgery will take either an hour or three hours, depending on what the pathologist says.
Either way, the doc feels that things should go OK, and the only potential downside he sees is the possibility of a leak. That would be akin to a burst appendix, although he believes the risk of a leak is very low, but that's one reason Chris will need to stay in the hospital for 3-5 days (so they can monitor her). If a leak occurs, the doc will need to go back in and clean stuff up, in addition to repairing the leak. Sounds like a real plumbing job.
Right now, we're in a wait and see mode, although Chris has more or less blanked it out.
