This morning, like every two weeks, we were scheduled to get Avastin, the vasso-growth inhibitor that’s we believe has been helping starve the tumors to death.  However, we decided that because of the abdominal pain that Maggie’s been experiencing we’d instead ask to speak with Dr. Loukas.  We figured since he mentioned a surgical procedure to fix what might be adhesions and since a certain amount of time must pass after taking Avastin and before having surgery, we’d be able to better take advantage of the 14 days already passed since her last Avastin dose.  He agreed.  He even one-upped us by saying if we were going to have surgery we might as well do as much as we can while we’ve got the knives out.  He said that it might be possible to perform some ablation or even whack off a part of her liver to get rid of the some of the tumors.  But, to do so, we’d need to do some preliminary investigatory work, including getting another colonoscopy and getting our first PET scan.

So, next Wednesday we get another colonoscopy.  We were hoping it would be sooner (like tomorrow) but apparently there’s been a real run on colonoscopies lately.  It’s all the rage so the clinic has a full schedule.  So we’ll wait.

Dr. Loukas said that the place where Maggie’s pain was located is a tough place to diagnose purely by location.  He said it could be any of the following:  a twisted polyp in her colon, a problem with her ovaries, a new cancerous tumor, a problem with her appendix, scar tissue from the tumors on her liver rubbing on her diaphragm, or adhesions.  Geee, at least it wasn’t a simple problem to solve.  So, let the exploration begin!  Apparently they start with the pooper and work their way up!  Steven Covey said to begin with the end in mind but I don’t think this is what he meant.

Maggie’s pain is manageable and today it hasn’t been a problem.  We preemptively took half a pain pill after lunch which was strategically followed with a nap.  The pain, we think, seems to be related to the amount of physical activity she performs.  The lazier she is the better she feels.  Wait a minute….  That’s a little suspect.  Chris gets Maggie a gym membership and suddenly she discovers a pain that’s tied to physical activity?  Hmm….   Something’s not right in the hen house.

Meanwhile, Maggie is continuing her studies for the Bar Exam.  It’s about two months away now.