Yesterday was my first meeting with Dr. Colleen Rivard and some of her care team. I won’t go into all the details. It was a long day. Jo, my sister, Crystal and Ashley were there as well. To sum the day up, she went over the CT scan with us, describing the mass as being comparable to the size of a cantaloupe. We were a bit shocked by that. They measure in centimeters, so we were a bit off in our estimation of its size. She did an exam and was encouraged when she told me that it was “mobile”. In other words, it doesn’t appear to be attached to anything. She wasn’t concerned about the fluid in that region, nor the spleen and liver. Of course, she won’t know much until she gets in there and has a look around. So, next Thursday, the 23rd, is my scheduled surgery. I am the first surgery scheduled which is at 7:30 am. She will start with a laparoscopy (going in with scopes/cameras first) to determine that they can get all the cancer before they open me up. If that goes well, they will then open my stomach up to do the debulking and staging. She said most often ovarian cancer is caught late stage, so I should expect stage 3 or 4. This debulking means the removal of the tumor, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix. They will also remove two suspicious lymph nodes. All will be sent to pathology. I should know more about the pathology report a week to 10 days after surgery. Surgery will last 4-5 hours and my hospital stay, depending on a lot of unknown factors, should be 2-3 days. After I am released from the hospital, I will be going to Jo’s house for recovery. Three weeks after surgery, my chemo journey begins. During surgery, I will have two ports put in place. One in my abdomen and one in my chest. Chemo will be administered into both ports. My scheduled chemo will have to be done at FV, so unfortunately, no Mankato. The first week I will have two days of chemo. The second week, one day of chemo and the third week I will be on a “break”. The fourth week it starts all over again. This will continue for 18 weeks. I know I have a long and difficult journey ahead of me. I will fight and pray and fight some more. Please continue the prayers and include my care team and surgeons. Thank you for showing your support! Cancer sucks!