Everything you wanted to know about Debulking but were afraid to ask

January 25, 2020 /   /  Adam Czech, Authors, Caring Bridge

December 7, 2015

Hi all. Adam here again. Here’s a quick update:

One of the recommendations from an oncologist at United Hospital was to see if I was a candidate for Debulking surgery. Debulking is, basically, having a surgeon go in and remove as much of the cancer as possible, then dump chemotherapy directly inside of me to try and get as much of the rest as they can. Very few hospitals perform this procedure. It’s aggressive, it’s major, and the recovery period is long.

On our way home after getting discharged from the hospital on Thursday afternoon, I received a call from a surgeon at United. He was able to get me an appointment the next day with a surgeon at the University of Minnesota who performs Debulking surgeries. We met with this surgeon on Friday and he agreed that I was a candidate for the procedure. 

However, I still have several hurdles to clear before Debulking is possible. For one, I need to get my hemoglobin up. I’ll be getting iron infusions twice per week. Also, on the day of the surgery, the surgeon begins by going in with a camera to get a better look at the tumor and the other cancerous cells that surround it. If it looks like the cancer is too widespread, he will not proceed. Based on the CT scan, the surgeon believes Debulking is a realistic possibility for me, but there can be things that do not appear on a scan. That’s why he goes in with a camera before beginning the operation.

I’m penciled in for the Debulking surgery on Jan. 6. Meantime, we’re waiting to hear back from Mayo so we can get another opinion. Perhaps Mayo will agree that Debulking is the way to go. Perhaps they won’t. We shall see…..Mayo does perform Debulking procedures, but only at their facility in Scottsdale, Ariz.

So that’s the medical update. Hopefully I didn’t screw anything up too badly.

In other news, being back home has been great so far. My son keeps me laughing, my family and friends keep me hopeful, Matilda the Bulldog keeps me entertained and my wife keeps me all of the above (as well as organized). I also returned to work today. I’m incredibly lucky to work for the Minnesota Corn Growers Association. It is a first-class organization made up of amazing and caring people.

Signing off for now. Oh, but before I go, some of you know that I write for a Green Bay Packers website called CheeseheadTV.com. I wrote a little something about my cancer diagnosis for the site today. It’s raw, it’s emotional and the language gets salty in spots, but I wanted to post a link here in case any of you wanted to read it. If you’d like, you can check it out by clicking here.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU a million times over for all the thoughts, prayers, well-wishes and messages. I read them all and appreciate them more than I can say.