IT'S NOT A MATTER OF IF YOU HAVE YOUR STOMACH REMOVED, BUT A MATTER OF WHEN...

"You have an 83% chance of heredity diffuse gastric cancer. In my eyes, it's not a matter of IF you have your stomach removed, it's a matter of WHEN. This is not an URGENT matter, but I would definitely put it in your plans in the next few years." That's basically word for word what my gastro doctor at Mayo Clinic said. After a TON of research and reading blogs, I 100% agree with this. I, actually, pretty much had my mind made up before I walked into their office. I still wanted to have an open mind and was secretly hoping they would say something like, "Hey, we have this cool new thing we just found that gives you NO chance of HDGC." The likelihood of that wasn't very likely, but I was very open to everything they suggested. I did ask what would be suggested if I DIDN'T have my stomach removed. I could either do nothing, but that'd be silly because that's the reason I wanted to find out about this gene to begin with....to be preventative... OR do scope every six months in HOPES they find something before it's too late. I asked if there was anything I could do, eat, try, etc. to prevent this cancer from coming about instead. The answer was, "No, it's in your genes, unfortunately. I would love to say if you take this magic vitamin or work out and eat healthy that it would prevent it, but I can't. I'm not saying DON'T eat healthy and DON'T work out, but they won't necessarily help you to NOT get this cancer." My thought is that you CAN LIVE without a stomach, but if I wait in hopes they would catch something IF it ever came about, my chance of survival IF they did find something is less than 20% over 5 years. Yes, there will be a TON of changes, but I will NEVER have to deal with this awful cancer that I watched kill my mom. It was terrible and I don't wish that on ANYONE! A lot of things I read came from the "No Stomach for Cancer" non-profit group out of Wisconsin. AMAZING info with a TON of blogs of people who ARE living without their stomach and are going through the same journey as I. http://www.nostomachforcancer.org/ is their website if you care to visit it and this is where I'll be sharing my blog, also. So, honestly...if I could get this done ASAP I would only because I feel like you heal faster while younger and I really just want to get on with life and figure out my "new normal." Well, that's not realistic. So, plans are to do a complete prophylactic gastrostomy next year, August 2016 (when I will qualify for disability insurance). I will meet with the surgeon in about 6-8 months and get even more questions answered. So, the count down begins....