April 9th – Recovery Day 1

Yesterday we had some time with the translator while waiting and Mel spoke with others to find out more about the hospital. It is considered the best hospital in Spain. The Royal family comes here as well as other high profile people. You can tell by the hospital itself. A story that the translator told us was there was someone from the US who had spent a significant amount on care because they thought they had a great attack. It was not and the team here found the actual cause and cured them. As I like to make things fun for the doctors this may also be a challenge for them. We had always known that the case did not present normal. This is why I was not eligible for the clinical trials. They were unsure of the scans and measurements and thought that the perhaps the doctors were not experienced enough when they went in laparoscopic initially. When this team went in they were surprised. First the ascites did not present as normal and it is quite milky. This is a sign of chylous ascites and can be a sign of either surgical trauma or blockage of lymph nodes somewhere. Some treatment options are low fat diet. Yesterday my appointment ran late and while they were exploring and found all of these fun facts they decided to take samples of everything they could did testing. They did this already in Sudbury, but as they specialize in this I am sure that they will run a whole gamut of other tests. Results are expected in about 2 weeks. We will then know what treatment options we should be doing. As they were there they also decided to spray the PIPAC everywhere as well. The good news is that from what they can tell, the cancer does not seem to have spread, but the bad news is that the tests are conflicting. They know it is there from the biopsy, but it lacks the usual visual signs of it. As this is a renowned center that specializes in this, i feel that they will figure out what we should do next. Even if it is not PIPAC next I feel much more comfortable coming back for this. I think it was totally worth it to come and tell me I am in a perfect status of having so much conflicting info that they are confused. I confounded experts across two continents. How special am I. The doctors are not expected to come talk to me until later this afternoon, so I will most likely post that you tomorrow.

The procedure here is quite different than the hospital in Canada. In Canada I would need to register and then change and sit in a room by myself in the cold for hours. Last time they told me that I could not bring my cell phone and I sat there for a couple of hours in the cold. You answer some quick questions with a nurse but otherwise you are in a gown with a blower that circulates hot air. When it is almost time you go to another area and wait prior to your procedure. Here in Spain we have one of the nicest rooms on the floor. There is a tiered Healthcare system here where you can get public healthcare for free and pay private insurance to access a private hospital like this. Mel thinks that since we are an international patient that we may have the nicer room. Apparently some insurances you can get a package that includes flight. I am not sure that if i has surgery if I would want to travel economy. The procedure here was I had my own translator and it seemed like I skipped most of the lines and had bloodwork and then I got admitted into my own private room where I got to hang out until they were ready for me. They came to my room to check up and they shaved my stomach in my washroom. I was scheduled to go in at 3:30 but with all the delays I went in at 5:45. We had waited from approximately 2pm till that time, but it was a comfortable wait. We then went to another area where I went to a prep area where they inserted my IV. They are just as bad here as in Canada and it took them 3 times to get it in. After waiting my turn for a bit I was then rolled over to the OR area where it seems like they just had a very long hallway of suites. They all seemed quite high tech. I am not sure what time it started but I got out of my room by 11:30pm. Mel had spoken to the doctor’s and they confirmed that I may not need further PIPAC. We will see though when we chat with the doctors and confirm the results. 

Mel took the 4 hours that I was in surgery to run some errands, like washing our clothing and buying some things for our family. She also took a shower I think. The area is beautiful and she had sufficient time to kill and could afford to run around for a bit. Throughout this trip she has had the burden of planning everything out for everyone and making sure that everyone is accommodated for. In every household there is a default parent that takes control of handling the needs of everyone. Mel is the one that had to plan things out for everyone and make sure everyone is doing ok. Last night she had to get up every couple of hours with me as I was not permitted to leave the bed to pee. It sucked. I also had a bit of incontinence this morning and I am not sure how I made a mess. They came and cleaned things up well though and I changed into some more regular clothing. I managed to walk around the whole floor this morning and ate all of my paltry breakfast. They gave me a piece of bread, some soft queso and olive oil. To drink I had tea and apple juice. In Canad I am not fond of apple juice and it will be my last choice of beverages, while here it was actually not bad and out of the fruit choices I would drink it first. This trip would have been much more difficult without all of the little things that Mel does without complaint and all of the little logistics that she does. We have 1 day that we will go out to the markets by our hotel this Saturday and Mel is diligently figuring out what we may do. She is a bit concerned with me being off pain meds. Little does she realize that pain is for suckers. The nurses kept on giving me pain meds and was asking me about it. I never felt any pain the whole time so we will see what the impact is. The sidewalks are not smooth so the whole ride with the wheelchair is jolting. We will end up taking a taxi to the market and from there we can figure it out. Inside the stores it is smooth, but outside not as much. I think I may be able to handle it as the incisions seem to small and I also do have some morphine that I brought from home. I wanted to proceed enough that I could get discharged today,  but Mel thinks I should be cautious. She is probably right and the hospital did say that they would prefer I stay at least 1 night before flying out. Overall besides the confusion, the procedure went well and it has been a great experience. If this is not effective than we will figure out what the next course of action is within 2 weeks.

Quoc Hao