Good vibes, good luck or a combination of the two, and we're not home free yet

[DFW]

56. Thanks to all that posted. We had the big meeting this morning. We dodged a MAJOR bullet

The had professor told us that there were basically two kinds of uterine cancer. One which is 80%+ of the cases, if caught in time usually be cured with a hysterectomy.

The other one is the one they call "Der Mörder," or "the murderer." It is less than 20% of the cases. It is extremely aggressive, and attacks surrounding organs like ovaries, omentum, liver, bones, lymph nodes, anything in the neighborhood. It spreads quickly and silently, and is usually only found when it's too late, which is why the doctors in her clinic named it "the murderer." This is what my wife had.

He said her case was highly unusual in that it was detected very early, and hadn't had a chance to spread at all. He said that if he had only seen her history on paper, he would have recommended a full round of chemo and radiation. However, since he was present at her operation, and saw how it didn't appear to have spread at all, and then got a confirmation when ALL her biopsies were cancer-free, he said he thought a chemo and radiation round would probably do more harm than good.

Strict observation on a frequent basis from here on in, but for now, NO chemo and NO radiation, PLUS she gets the usual 3 to 4 week stay at a rehab spa of her choice in Germany that caters to her kind of cancer. This is considered part of cancer treatment on Germany and is covered by insurance.

We were very lucky in that my wife got a quick appointment with her gynecologist when she thought something might be amiss. We were luck again when she got a quick scraping and biopsy to see what the scrapings told. We were lucky a third time when the gynecologist recognized that she had the "murderer" form of uterine cancer, and was able to get her an operation scheduled within 3 weeks. My wife is a "Kassenpatient," which in Germany basically means "tourist class care--hurry up and wait." It was just as possible that she might have been told to wait two months between appointments, during which time her cancer would have spread and possibly been fatal.

But we lucked out The first time she had cancer, 15 years ago, she was given the "don't call us, we'll call you" treatment," and her cancer spread in the 5 months between diagnosis and begin of treatment, which then lasted 7 months. This time she had better luck. We'll take it. The alternative would have been, shall we say, unpleasant.