11 weeks post surgery

7/22/15 darker than yesterday :(

4 weeks and 1 day. Back at Moffitt for possible infection...

Week 4 post surgery. Scar is completely healed. Still have drain tube and lots of pain but it healed nicely. Let's hope it stays that way.

Still have my canine nurse working 24/7 to keep me well!

9 days after surgery...

The left leg is half the size of the right one. :(

Post surgery...6/24/15

OR status board

All ready for the good stuff!

My orders...

Post surgery

All healed up, just in time for surgery.

1 week from surgery. Healing nicely...just in time to get hacked into again. :(

Three weeks post radiation...

Radiation Information

This is a good article about radiation. I had the external type.

http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/radiation-therapy?utm_content=sf38372152&utm_medium=spredfast&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=National+Cancer+Institute&cid=fb_NCIMain_nci_radiation_sf38372152#HRTWAC

2 weeks post radiation. This is about when the effects peak, and that seems to be the case. There's quite a bit of pain and some blistering, but nothing has cracked open yet. Hopefully it won't. Very tired and pretty unmotivated, but still working full time and doing chores, walking dogs, having some fun, etc. 4 weekends left until surgery and trying to make the most of them. Cedar Key this weekend : )

10 days post radiation

Surgery details...

Pre-op is scheduled for 1pm June 19^th at Moffitt.

Surgery is scheduled for 12:30pm June 22^nd. I should only be spending 1 night in the hospital and be home on Tuesday afternoon. Physical Therapy will start right away and I will be having it for a number of weeks down here in Bradenton or Sarasota. How long of PT is not known at this time. I will need to be off work for a minimum of two weeks, and anything more will depend on my pain level. He said I will probably be on pain meds for about 4 weeks and won’t be able to drive during that time. That to me says I’m going to be hurting big time! I should be up and walking right away and the surgeon doesn’t think I will need a walker. I will probably need crutches to start and maaaaybe (his words) a cane for a while. We won’t know if I’ll need additional surgery (if margins aren’t clear) and/or skin grafts for a while, up to 3 months after surgery. Then I will have CT scans and an MRI every 3 months for 5 years to be sure it hasn’t recurred or spread. If margins are clear, I shouldn’t need additional radiation or chemo either so keep thinking clear margins!!

Video of the removal of a sarcoma from within the vastus medialis...

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid18575807001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAA1_uTjk~,AATv_B_o1owTMovpJadWGWugNflQ3dyi&bclid=37988432001&bctid=1242843737001

Pretty good description of what my surgery will be like.

http://www.sarcoma.org/publications/mcs/ch14.pdf

Post radiation...

Fwd:

Start of week 4 of radiation...area is sore but still not blistering which is good.

Half done with radiation!

Start of week 3 of radiation. No skin peeling or blistering yet...

April 11th - two radiation treatments so far.

After 2 radiation treatments...

Starting to turn colors and is warm to the touch from radiation already.

Classy!!

My new best friend...

No more playing dot to dot on my leg!

Fwd:

Look close and you will see the three tattoo dots used for radiation on the left side of the scar.

My leg as of 4/2/15. This is what they did to get setup for radiation. The black smudges are where the permanent tattoos are located so they radiate the same location each day. Good news for the day - the cancer has NOT spread to my lymph nodes, lungs, or other organs! T2bNoMoGrade 3, Stage III pleomorphic sarcoma, high grade with myxoid features is the official diagnosis. Radiation starts on 4/9 and ends on 5/13. Surgery to remove the muscle will follow 4 weeks after.

3/31 The rest of the staples removed today. This is obviously before that happened.

Where does one start...how about HOLY SHIT, WTF, or WHY ME?! That's a pretty good start. I never in my wildest dreams imagined what I am in for. I mean ever. To keep this somewhat short, I will be having radiation 5 days a week for 5 weeks starting as early as April 9th on my thigh. It will be followed by a surgery 4 weeks later where they will remove the vastus medialis muscle from my leg. YES, THEY ARE REMOVING A MUSCLE FROM MY LEG! Pathology reports showed positive margins which means the cancer is still there. They're very worried about it going to my surgery incision and drain tube area so they will hit that with extra radiation. They are also doing CT scans of my organs next week and an MRI to see if the cancer has spread. Damn I hope not. The good news, if there is any, is that Moffitt has one of only 5 sarcoma units in the US, and my Oncologist is one of the best, and was named Physician of the Year. And for those of you asking about 2nd opinions, 3 pathologists agreed with the sarcoma diagnosis, and the slides will be sent to Moffitt for their pathologist to look at and to determine exactly which type of sarcoma this is, as there are 78 different kinds. So keep sending me your good juju because I may very well need it. I'm strong, but geesh, this is a big one...

My sarcoma. Removed 3/19 as a lipoma, diagnosed as cancer 3/23.

At home and in jail for 12 weeks. Who will go nuts first...him, or us?!

Feeling much better!

Poor Ditto - ACL surgery last week.

We got Maui'd!!