cartech78 wrote:I see your in the HAI pump people group now! I thought it might be you. Good luck with your appointment. I stay at the residence inn by Marriot on east 48th st. Its a couple blicks walk from MSK and they offer discounts to MSK patients. Its a nice place.
mpbser wrote:Here are some tips about MSK that we learned yesterday by experience:
Don't have MRIs done at the 55th Street Imaging Center unless 1) you are a small person and 2) you have no problem with claustrophobia. They only have one MRI machine and it's the smallest model ever. (My husband could not fit in it and they had to send us up to Memorial Hospital on York Avenue.)
Get to know the jitney which can take you around to and from the various buildings: https://www.mskcc.org/locations/visitin ... nt-shuttle
ginabeewell wrote:cartech78 wrote:I see your in the HAI pump people group now! I thought it might be you. Good luck with your appointment. I stay at the residence inn by Marriot on east 48th st. Its a couple blicks walk from MSK and they offer discounts to MSK patients. Its a nice place.
I'm not in the group but my husband Per is! I think you commented on his thread there. Good luck on Monday and I'm hoping you've primed the pump for me on NW pump maintenance. : )
mpbser wrote:Here are some tips about MSK that we learned yesterday by experience:
Don't have MRIs done at the 55th Street Imaging Center unless 1) you are a small person and 2) you have no problem with claustrophobia. They only have one MRI machine and it's the smallest model ever. (My husband could not fit in it and they had to send us up to Memorial Hospital on York Avenue.)
Get to know the jitney which can take you around to and from the various buildings: https://www.mskcc.org/locations/visitin ... nt-shuttle
Dr. Kemeny is great! I replied to your husband on Facebook the other day about my appointment with the surgeon but he basically didn’t know much on how it worked with someone else servicing the pump. He told me it was up to Dr.Kemeny and if she had someone she was comfortable with at Northwestern. Im glad you were able to verify it with her again today as it hasn’t been brought up in my last two appointments! I am curious to know though exactly how much experience Northwestern has with the new pump. MSK told me once they remove the pump they can’t reinstall it again. With that being said i will probably have MSK due all the maintenance the first few times so i can get a feel for what its supposed to look like. My pre surgery test is on the 23 of February and if everything is good it looks like surgery will be the following week. Interesting enough, Dr Kemeny told me the surgeons didn’t feel like i was resectable currently but i was a good candidate for the pump. When i met with Dr.Kingham, my surgeon he said oh no, were going in and doing a partial resection and installing the pump. He said after a few pump treatments were gonna go back in and remove the middle section of your liver! I was shocked! He thinks he can get me to NED in 5 to 7 months! Totally unexpected!!! You will learn the most when you get to the step of meeting with your surgeon!ginabeewell wrote:Done with my consult. It was good if efficient. Dr K knew what we were after and got straight to the point of discussing treatment. I just had chemo Monday; she wants me to do two more rounds (which would bring me to 8 total) and then come back for a scan to determine if I am ready for a resection and pump placement on Feb 20.
She agreed with my NW doc that the systemic chemo looked like it could get me to resectable.
She also confirmed that I could get my flushes at Northwestern which is great.
If all goes well that means I could be in surgery by mid March.
I liked her and was impressed at the efficiency of the operation. I'm glad we did our research and knew what to expect. I found the support staff and fellow very warm and human, and Dr Kemeny gave me a great sense of confidence.
ginabeewell wrote:Done with my consult. It was good if efficient. Dr K knew what we were after and got straight to the point of discussing treatment. I just had chemo Monday; she wants me to do two more rounds (which would bring me to 8 total) and then come back for a scan to determine if I am ready for a resection and pump placement on Feb 20.
She agreed with my NW doc that the systemic chemo looked like it could get me to resectable.
She also confirmed that I could get my flushes at Northwestern which is great.
If all goes well that means I could be in surgery by mid March.
I liked her and was impressed at the efficiency of the operation. I'm glad we did our research and knew what to expect. I found the support staff and fellow very warm and human, and Dr Kemeny gave me a great sense of confidence.
cartech78 wrote:My pre surgery test is on the 23 of February and if everything is good it looks like surgery will be the following week. Interesting enough, Dr Kemeny told me the surgeons didn’t feel like i was resectable currently but i was a good candidate for the pump. When i met with Dr.Kingham, my surgeon he said oh no, were going in and doing a partial resection and installing the pump. He said after a few pump treatments were gonna go back in and remove the middle section of your liver! I was shocked! He thinks he can get me to NED in 5 to 7 months! Totally unexpected!!!
juliej wrote:cartech78 wrote:My pre surgery test is on the 23 of February and if everything is good it looks like surgery will be the following week. Interesting enough, Dr Kemeny told me the surgeons didn’t feel like i was resectable currently but i was a good candidate for the pump. When i met with Dr.Kingham, my surgeon he said oh no, were going in and doing a partial resection and installing the pump. He said after a few pump treatments were gonna go back in and remove the middle section of your liver! I was shocked! He thinks he can get me to NED in 5 to 7 months! Totally unexpected!!!
Cartech78, Dr K consults with her team (which includes Kingham, D'Angelica, and others) so I'm sure she was pleased he thought you were ready for a partial resection! Congratulations!
The pre-surgical test is interesting. They run lots of tests (including heart tests) and ask you tons of questions, including the usual "what do you think this surgery is for?" -- which cracks me up for some reason. The results are sent to the surgeon the same day so he can make a determination.
Everyone at MSK Hospital will take very good care of you before, during, and after the surgery. The meals are gourmet quality, not typical hospital stuff. You can order from the menu anytime of the day (from about 7:30 am to 9:00 pm). I often ordered a mid-afternoon snack of carrot cake and hot tea. There are no assigned "mealtimes."
Walking is the single most important thing you can do after your surgery. It helps start the healing process in the body so you can make a fast recovery. I learned that 14 laps around the ward there equals 1 mile. Break the mile up into several short walks a day, taking it slow and easy at first.
Tip: Take an extension cord with you so you can use it to charge your phone, iPad, etc. Sometimes the outlets are in odd places and it's handy to be able to get it closer to your bed.
Hope this helps!
Juliej
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