liver resection scheduled for 12/21...need your wisdom, please

[jessica]

Hi All~
Just got home from my consult w/the Surg.Onc. Looks like I'm full speed ahead for liver resection, specifically a Right Hepatectomy. I'm a little freaked out...I was thinking I had a little more time, it's just this stinky Spot is insidious, growing ~4cms in 10 weeks off chemo. That's faster than it's ever grown...
I was hoping 4-8 weeks of chemo or maybe even chemoembolization would be helpful to shrink this sucker, but the surgeon says even if it does, it doesn't significantly change the surgical approach. In other words, shrinking it down isn't going to make me a candidate for laparoscopy vs. resection. That's what I was really hoping for.We need to get it out b/c it's starting to threaten the surrounding bodies, like bile ducts & the vena cava, so we gotta get it out before I have complications.
I was anticipating going up to MSK in New York for a second opinion, I even have the name of 2 top Hepatobiliary surgeons there. But as it turns out, my surgeon here trained @MSK w/those 2 docs & now presents papers & research along side them. He does only GI cases & said 1/3-1/2 of all surgeries he does are liver resections, averaging 2/week.
To be honest, I would have felt more comfortable if he said he ONLY does liver resections, all day, every day...Any thoughts?
However, he is very confident that he can successfully do this procedure. Since there's some question about reconstructing the vena cava, he said he would have a vascular surgeon available (which they wouldn't @ MSK) & said he would ask the head of Surg Onc to scrub in. He has watched my case for a year & now feels comfortable that there's no evidence of disease cropping up anywhere else.So NOW is the time... And after a year, I feel comfortable that he knows Me, the person. That counts for a lot too...
I asked him to draw on me where the incision will be (tip of my sternum to~2inches above my belly button, then across to ~3inches from edge of my bottom rib-it's called a "hockey stick" incision) so that I could get used to looking at it...I also asked him if he'd read Dr.Bernie Siegel's "Love, Medicine & Miracles". He said yes, it's on his book shelf and he believes in it.
I am incredibly grateful that I AM a candidate for surgery and that this is the one & only spot...since July of 2003. That's incredibly good news. So if history predicts the future, this is IT. Get it out already!
I value the opinions & wisdom of all of you here...
Keeping the Faith!!!
Jessica