welcome to our blog!

Ok so I have to admit, I'm pretty new at this whole blogging thing. However, I wanted to be sure to have a forum where I can relay any updates we get leading up to, during, and after Doug's surgery down in Baltimore. My first couple of posts I thought I would dedicate to giving you all the journey up until now, where we stand today, and what our next steps in the process are!

I know that many of you already know the story and saga of how we got to where we are today, but I will give a quick overview for those of you who don't know. Back in April, Doug and I were getting ready to go on our first vacation together to Grand Cayman! A few days before we left, Doug went to the doctor for some stomach discomfort. Dr. Saunders sent Doug for a CT scan which quickly led to a biopsy on the day that we were set to leave for NYC to catch an early flight. Needless to say, not the most relaxing vacation as we waited anxiously for a phone call. I keep telling Doug that we are DEFINITELY going back and we'll be able to relax much easier! When we got back, we went for a meeting with the doctor. He, along with a med student that was working with him for the summer talked to us and told us what they thought his diagnosis was--PMP, or pseudomyxoma peretoni---a rare cancer of the appendix. Basically, in a nutshell what PMP does is it is a tumor that ruptures through the appendix and then proceeds to produce mucin in the abdominal cavity--often referred to as "jelly belly". There are about 1000 cases in the US every year. The first thing Dr. Saunders said to us is "you need to see a specialist. I've read about this, but in 20+ years have never seen a case". At that point, we were really confused and didn't really know what was going on. was it cancer? was it not?

Our next move was to decide what specialists to go and consult with. We went to Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC where we were lucky enough to be able to stay with Elizabeth for the night, and Amy Cooper came and met us in the city and came with us to the doctor. Doug also was scheduled to take a business trip to Baltimore a few weeks later and was lucky enough to get a consult with Dr. Armando Sardi. As soon as he called me afterwards to tell me about the consult, I knew that Doug had found his doctor. It was then a matter of coming to terms with it and scheduling the surgery.

Doug's surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9th. We will head down to Baltimore on the 7th, and are meeting Doug's family down there. He will check into the hospital--Mercy Medical Center near the Inner Harbor--on the 8th for all of the pre-op stuff he has to have done. In the next post I'll give a quick overview of what the surgery is and more information on what we're expecting.

On a personal note, like I said I am kind of new to this blog thing. So you'll have to forgive my obviously amateur efforts! One thing that I can say though is that I have never met anyone who has been able to handle this whole situation with more grace, strength, and courage than Doug, and I also know if anyone can fight this, he can. And the thing that is going to help him along the way is all of you reading this right now. He (and I both!) have the most wonderful group of family, friends, coworkers, and just overall supporters and we are lucky to have all of you. Its going to be a scary month, but I know he is going to be just fine and that I'm going to be picking up his dirty socks and wondering why he hasn't done the dishes AGAIN for a very long time :-). You guys all know this but he's the love of my life and I'm so proud of him and all he has had to go through.

OK i'll stop being sappy now, i know some of you are probably out there gagging! :-) More info in the next post, and I'll be updating on a regular basis! For more specific information I recommend visiting the links that we've listed at the bottom of the page, and please ALWAYS feel welcome to email me directly at Zee730@yahoo.com. Like I noted at the top of the page, please leave comments also as I'll be reading everything to doug as he gets better so he can hear everyone who is waiting anxiously for him to come home!

Thank you all for your continued love and support!

Love,
Lindsey