I wish traffic through LA was as smooth and non existent as when going through the desert, but no. Today James and I spent most of the day driving back and forth to meet with a HIPEC surgeon in LA. Our GPS also decided to show us two different locations with the same address – so if LA traffic was not stressful enough this definitely made me have a proper rage fit in the middle of Sunset Blvd. I was quite surprised that my blood pressure came out very normal once I was in the doctors office – I entered fairly red in the face.

The doctor we met today said the same as previous doctors – and she filled in a few more gaps for us. It is very clear that for the type of cancer I have – I need to have intravenous chemotherapy before cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC. If I had neoplasm or low grade carcinoma they would do HIPEC right away. What I have is high grade carcinoma and a chance of it being in my blood or lymph – even if no visible tumors have been seen outside the peritoneal cavity. However, she seemed quite positive that despite having high grade carcinoma – the tumor load is low – and the chances of this having a positive outcome is good. This is of course calming me down and giving me more hope.

As written earlier – we have been unsure of if I should have HIPEC first and then IV chemo, but they are adamant that I need to get IV chemo first. We addressed concern that IV chemo might not work in cancers inside the abdomen, but the doctor said that it is a strong chance that high grade carcinoma will be affected by it. They are following me closely with testing the two cancer markers CA-125 and CEA and will also regularly do CT-scans to follow the size of the tumor I have on the peritoneum.

I will meet with the oncologist tomorrow and learn more about the chemotherapy – how many times and how often. The surgeon today suggested that I possibly will need six treatments over three months.

We trust the doctors we have discussed with so far and we know that I will have a good chance if treated at the hospital my health insurance covers. However we believe that I will get a better treatment if we change to Moores Cancer Center at UCSD. They will follow the same course of action as my present hospital, but they see far more cases like mine per year. These doctors are the specialists and they have treated hundreds of people with the same condition as me. Moores is also closer to home and one less rage fit as it is far, far away from LA traffic.

James has been working today to transfer our health plan over to a new provider – and thanks to Obama Care – even if I have a serious condition the new provider cannot refuse to accept me or raise the price. James will continue this process tomorrow.

So – not a whole lot of news today – a small step closer to understanding what they are planning for me and a big step further towards transferring me to the specialists. 

The next three days I will enjoy spending time with good friends from Norway that are staying with us. They greeted us with with Mexican dinner when we came back home from a long day in the car. Viva la Pacifico- a perfect remedy for road rage. And thank you for bringing Giffler and Rugsprø from my parents!