Matthew Slater

Health update: things are healing up reasonably well and my energy is coming back (resting heart rate reverting to normal). Relieved that my GI system seems to be back to normal. I find this kinda amazing: excise ~25% of a colon and in a few weeks the rest is like "meh, we got this."

I can't decide between Megaunconsiousness or Prettybigdeth. . . .

Staples came out without too much pain and I'm cleared to start judiciously introducing fiber back into my diet. We decamped from our NYC outpost and it's so good to be back home with our dogs after nearly three weeks away!

with my surgeon, Dr. Karagkounis.

Reunited with the muppets

Followup with my surgeon similarly positive; he would put my condition more modestly: "there's presently no evidence of disease". Fair enough. I may not have decisively beat stage IV colon cancer, but we certainly won this round.

It's likely that the cancer will recur at some point (though it doesn't always), but it's hard to believe that I'm done with chemo for at least a good while. Keeping my port for at least another year to be on the safe side. Heading home tomorrow after my surgeon consult (staples come out).

Just had my followup appointment with my oncologist. Pathology report looked pretty good; mostly dead cells / mucin pools in the biopsied tissues. She proclaimed me “disease free” for now. Next step is monitoring (CT scan in 6 mo.).

Can't fail to mention that Laura has been an absolute godsend in all of this — keeping me fed, comfortable, motivated. . . . I am definitely getting the better end of that "in sickness and health" clause. Couldn't do any of this without her. ❤️

I should have the pathology report from the surgery — MSK apparently keeps / samples *everything* — back early next week. Meeting with my oncologist on Wednesday and with my surgeon the day after (to get my staples out and generally check in). And then (assuming no whammies) homeward bound.

Continued progress on the health front here. I'm extending my walking distance / time, getting in some naps, reading, listening to music, trying to stay away from the news, and gradually getting my appetite back. GI system still on training wheels, but showing some signs of improvement.

First 15 min walk outside in a while. Pain manageable. Making slow, steady progress. Eager for my gut to get past this "training wheels" phase, but it'll take time — and months, possibly, to fully get back to normal.

Jeez: maybe a photo that better hides the insane amount of water weight I took on in the last week (>15 lbs)! At least she didn't post my 14" Frankenstein incision. . . . So happy to be out of the hospital. Will post more soon.

I'm not going to jinx myself by suggesting that I have such a record! Still a ways to go to heal from this one, and I'll never *truly* be out of the woods viz the cancer, I don't think.

Haha, I don't think anyone's ever accused me of the latter. And I'm phased for sure, so I'll go with "Neither" for 100, Alex.

Might be able to check out on Monday. Tuesday at the latest I think. Thanks for all the well wishes. It’s amazing to know that so many people have my back. Catching up on some basketball now.

Well, it’s been a journey within a journey. But it seems that body is getting used to 12” less colon (no appendix or peritoneal lining) adequately. Still have a few challenges to work out: tachy heartrate, edema, pain, and such, but the team here is working hard at tackling these.

Happy Christmas from MSK! A successful surgery seems like an excellent present.

Third time’s the charm? 🤞 As before, @lolamaya.bsky.social will update.

Just posted about this; 12/23. So nope, I'll probably be in the hospital for both. Actually kinda curious about the holiday festivities on a recovery ward.

Got confirmation that the surgery do-over will be on the 23rd. So it's gonna be a (hopefully) magical "Christmas on 67th St. (and York)" Possibly also NYE. . . . Hey, I'll take it. Just sorry to miss the parties. And this way I'll likely be ready to roll (just not literally) by the start of classes.

What would have been much MUCH worse is if they had discovered this AFTER making a 14" incision in my abdomen (or more!) or not at all. And we had a nice long weekend in NYC.

Keeps striking me how close a call this was. I was hooked up, port accessed, about to be sedated, when they were like: "Wait, your last chemo included bevacizumab? Uh oh." There's a close possible world in which I was in the hospital for a month or worse (but rich from a malpractice suit?). . . .

Well, surgery got postponed because of a miscommunication about my last chemo. Good that they caught it otherwise my healing could have been badly compromised. But super frustrating still. Waiting to hear when we can reschedule but probably late December at the earliest. 🙄

Oh boy did I want a bacon egg sando this morning. Ready to rock. @lolamaya.bsky.social will reply with an update.

Crystal flat white is what I need!

Sorry: should’ve said CLEAR liquid (ie no cappuccinos).

Waiting for pre-op testing and appt at MSK. The fancy coffee machine here is taunting me (liquid only diet today).

So normally I'd be back to chemo this morning. But all that's on hold in the leadup (and hopefully aftermath) of my surgery. 🥳Instead, I'm back for a CT scan to get a pre-surgery baseline. And no grape for me this time! Brought my own orange gatorade.

Met with my MSK oncologist yesterday and she was very enthusiastic about the surgery and its potential to keep me from chemo for a good while (again, assuming that there aren't any surprises awaiting in my abdominal cavity!). So we're in.

Going for the surgery (unless my MSK oncologist takes an unexpectedly contrary view). Booked for 12/5. Basically I get a retry on my first surgery a little less than a year later. Whatever comes from it, I'm reeeeeaalllly looking forward to a break from #chemo.

As a bonus, I'd probably be able to go off chemo for at least 6–9 months (possibly longer), which would be amazing after this many cycles. Still considering options (stay the course, take a break from chemo without surgery and monitor), but strongly leaning towards the surgery.