Is old news better than no news? I imagine it is, so here is an update from Sue's visit to the oncologist on 2 September - nearly 2 weeks ago!

Basically it was all 'good news'. As was the case with the surgeon, the oncologist was very pleased (and a little surprised) with the speed of Sue's recovery from the surgery. Essentially he reiterated information about the surgery itself. However, by reading over his shoulder, I was able to glean a few additional tidbits of information.

Fact 1: A 470mm long section of colon/bowel was removed
Fact 2: The appendix was also removed
Fact 3: Twelve neighboring swollen lymph nodes were removed from surrounding areas
Fact 4: Histology revealed that only 2 lymph nodes had cancer cells present
Fact 5: Histology revealed the tumor to be a big yukky cancerous mess (my para-phrase of the report!)

As I relayed my covert findings to Sue, she was especially pleased, but also a little miffed, with the news about her (now missing) appendix. She told me that ever since she was a little girl she had wanted to have her appendix out! On gentle exploration, she admitted that it was probably because she saw other kids getting special attention when they had appendix operations rather than actually wanting the surgery itself.... Either way, she has now fulfilled that childhood wish - even if happened without her knowing about it!  I did reminder her that her craving for attention was being well served anyway.

Looking forward, the oncologist talked of further weeks of recovery and intentional weight gain, then CT Scan and chemotherapy again. We were comfortable with that plan but advised him that we had already booked flights to visit Victoria (Tessa and Jim) and South Australia (most of the rest of the family) leaving on 8 September and returning on 6 October. He gave the trip his blessing as I suspect he realized that we were going no matter what, and booked the CT Scan and a further consultation with him immediately after our return.

His parting words to Sue were that she should try and put on 5 kgs in the month. Sue saw visions of daily bakery visits dancing before her and said so. Imagine her disappointment when he gently suggested that increased protein intake was preferable. Apparently cancer loves feasting on proteins and will seek them out so if you do not eat enough (additional) protein the cancer will deprive you of the amount you need. What a pity that cancer doesn't like feasting on country baked pastries and cakes!!

As you will now realize, we are in Victoria - in Yarragon in the West Gippsland to be exact. Sue is recuperating well, but still tires quite quickly. That leads on to a story about a trip to IKEA yesterday, but you will have to wait for the next blog post for that one!

A parting piece of practical advice: 

If you ever need to defend yourself against a pack of attacking clowns, go for the juggler! 

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