Dear Ellen,
It took over a month from the time he was diagnosed until he finally had surgery. He was officially diagnosed on July 12th, 2005 and he had the surgery August 18th. We hated waiting so long, but all of the doctors that we saw kept trying to calm us down and soothe our nerves by telling us that a month wouldn't make a difference. I'm pretty sure that I rolled my eyes at many a talented and well-meaning doctor.
We live in Atlanta, Georgia where we have a fabulous Oncologist at Piedmont Hospital, but we travelled to MD Anderson hospital in Houston, Texas for Hans' surgery. We also have an Oncologist at MD Anderson who communicates everything with our Atlanta Doctor. Hans had his Chemo/Radiation here in Atlanta using the Doctor's orders from Houston. It seems complicated, but really the Doctors communicated with each other and already knew everything happening which spared us from trying to explain things to them.
Our Atlanta Oncologist explained to us that with Stomach Cancer we really needed an Surgeon that had seen and done this surgery a number of times. MD Anderson fit that bill and we had two surgeons that worked on Hans. We still go back and have follow ups with his Thoracic Surgeon, Dr. Wayne Hofstetter in Houston...we don't even really need to see him anymore, but credit him with making a huge impact on our life and love checking in with him and his talented nurses. These people have been through so much with us as we lived in the hospital for 8 weeks after the first surgery. Hans had complications and needed a second surgery for an internal leak. You will meet so many angels on this journey. I once broke down asking the nurses and doctors how in the world can they work with cancer every single day and stay sane. They all hugged me and said that it wasn't easy, but that what they do means so much because of the lives that they touch. Truly great people.
My prayers and positive thoughts are with you and your Mom during those scans and the waiting for results (hardest part!).
Best,
Amy