During that first operation, I had a debulking and I was told that I could be facing further surgery. Eleven months later, I was.
After my second operation, I knew there had to be a better answer, so my family, friends and I began the research. This was when we found the PMP Pals’ Network which led me to my fantastic surgeon Professor David Morris at the St. George Hospital in Sydney.
When Prof Morris looked at my scans and considered whether he could successfully treat me, he confidently said the words, “I think this is possible”, which was certainly music to my ears.
I had one month to prepare for surgery by walking daily, swimming occasionally and generally being as fit as I could be.
In January 2004, I made the one and a half hour flight from my home in Melbourne to Sydney, was admitted to the St. George Hospital and underwent a seventeen-hour peritonectomy with HIPEC.
I spent one month in hospital, five days of that time in ICU. I then left the hospital to spend the rest of the year at my sister’s home to begin my recovery. It took many months before I was physically back to full strength. The regular encouragement of family and friends, as well as the support from Pals far and wide, assisted emotionally when times were a little tough.
The following year I returned to part-time work as a teacher, teaching art/craft and mathematics to young children. Although at times it was tiring, I was extremely grateful for the fact that I was back doing ‘normal’ things.
In 2007, I underwent another operation. My time in hospital was not as long and I recovered much more quickly.
It is now seven years since my last operation and my monitoring schedule has been reduced to annual tests with no evidence of disease.
Since that time, I have been able to return to my Primary School to continue part-time work. I have branched out with working as a tour guide at one of the beautiful Melbourne museums, where I meet many amazing local people and visitors from around the world. I have continued with my love of travelling and have visited several countries both in Asia and Europe. This coming May I will be touring Southern Spain and Portugal.
My continued connection with other patients has become an integral part of my life now. Having experienced the support through the friendships developed, it is now important to me to give back that same support. It has also been an honour and a pleasure to mentor other newly diagnosed patients.
In case you missed it...
The Waiting is Almost Over!
It’s just two days until my operation but how did I get to this point?
The call came out of the blue. When my gynae consultant’s secretary called, I thought she wanted to say the appointment I had changed was inconvenient. But no, she wanted to ask me to come back in! Even then I wasn’t particularly worried, didn’t really have a clue why…
Even if your case is rare, do not give up…
Fertility treatment, ovarian cysts, miracles, hernias and crossed fingers.
The doctor suspected that I had kidney stones
I was 59 years old when I was diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) and it took me eight months to get a diagnosis. My scan showed a “fog” or liquid around my liver and my spleen.
Hi Marilyn,
Thanks for sharing your story. It gives me hope that my mum still stand a chance. My mum was just diagnosed with PMP last month and just underwent cytoreductive surgery + HIPEC last Friday. She is still in ICU. She is a fighter but this is a hard fight. She has fought without a drop of tear. Please pray for her.
If you have any advice to cope with the recovery, it would be appreciated.
I wish you well and free of the disease.
Best wishes,
S Lim
Dear Sokchea,
I just saw your comment here today, so I hope your mum is doing well now after her surgery a few months ago.
Recovery from this operation takes a long time and sometimes it’s difficult to be patient, but I certainly hope that things are going well for her now. I’m sure she has some great support as this is so important for recovery. It’s important fr her to listen to her body and take time to rest when necessary.
Where did your mum have her surgery?
Best wishes to you and your family.
Regards
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn
Thanks for the reply and wishes.
My mum is still recovering. She has made very good progress. The one thing that she is coping with is bile salt due removal of gallbladder. She is on Cholestyramine for that. Her surgery was done in Singapore under Dr. Tan Yu-Ming, FeM surgeon.
Best wishes to you and family.
S Lim
Dear Sokchea. I also had this similar surgery here in Perth in September. The recovery is long however walking even a short distance each day has helped me and allowing friends to assist in any way possible even though your Mum may say she doesn’t need any help is a big benefit. Take each day slowly and thank God for the wonderful Doctor and his team who do an amazing job.
Hi J T,
Thank you for for the advice. She is making progress each day. I hope you are doing great, too.
Best wishes to you and family.
S Lim
My brother was diagnosed with PMP. They attempted cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC, but were only able to remove 85% of the cancer and as a result did not do HIPEC. The surgeon said it had hardened onto too many organs. The treatment plan is to watch it and possibly do surgery again if needed. Was that a similar situation to yours? I’m wondering if he should get a second opinion and see if HIPEC would be a possibility somewhere else. He has been going to the University of Minnesota.
Hi KJ, sorry that your brother didn’t have complete surgery. You mention that your brother has been treated at the University of Minnesota – I guess he sees Dr Tuttle there? He has a lot of experience with the disease but it may be worth a second opinion even if it just to confirm the prognosis.