We had a conversation with Dr Grotz, John's surgeon, this morning.  John felt more at ease after talking to him.  John's disease was so widespread and they knew they couldn't get it all the first surgery.  Now he is able to see what areas are growing and he can go back in and resect them. He will never get it all but hopefully we can get enough to prevent issues for years.  He will focus on a few areas of bowel and possibly remove part of the stomach.  He anticipates a shorter surgery ( 14 hours 1st go around), 6 week recovery time, and then back to work with 6 month scans for surveillance.  They will do the HIPEC (heated chemo) again as well.  Because it is slow growing, we have a large window of time to choose a surgery date.  We are thinking we might wait until his next scan in June and shoot for September.  It is amazing how well John has done considering the extent of his disease.  The fact that only a handful of tumors grew is remarkable.

They are starting some clinical trials with drugs that destroy the mucin but it will only be for inoperable cases at this time.  It does hold some hope for the future.

We both felt a punch to the gut when we heard about the need for another surgery but we are feeling much more optimistic after our conversation. As everyone dealing with illness knows, it is a roller coaster of emotions.