HIPEC Surgery - Sue's Story - The Nebraska Medical Center

Sue Vincent had been healthy most of her life. When she started gaining weight at an unexplained rate, she made a doctor's appointment. That appointment brought bad news: a diagnosis of cancer. That diagnosis lead her to Dr. Jason Foster, a surgical oncologist at The Nebraska Medical Center, and one of few surgeons nationally who perform hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, or HIPEC. The treatment is also sometimes called "hot chemo."
Sue's weight gain was caused by an appendix neoplasm, a huge tumor growing in her abdomen. The first phase of the treatment was surgery to remove the tumor and all visible signs of cancer. For Dr. Foster and his surgical team, this meant a surgery that lasted more than 14 hours and resulted in the removal of Sue's spleen, gallbladder, omentum ovaries, uterus, and portions of her colon, liver and pancreas.
The second phase of the surgery, performed the following day, was HIPEC. During this procedure, Dr. Foster and his team used catheters and a circulation pump to fill Sue's abdominal cavity with a heated chemotherapy solution. The heat and chemotherapy drug kill the microscopic cancer cells that are almost certainly left behind by the massive tumor. These tiny cells tend to re-implant themselves and create another tumor. In the HIPEC approach, the heated liquid kills and washes away the cancerous cells, greatly improving a patient's odds of living many more years without a recurrence of cancer.
Sue has recovered from her two-day surgery and is back at work and feeling great. Dr. Foster says her odds of living another ten or more years at 75-80%
HIPEC is approved for treatment of appendix, ovarian and colon cancers, as well as some types of mesothelioma.
For more information about HIPEC treatment at The Nebraska Medical Center, call 1-800-922-0000 or visit http://www.nebraskamed.com/cancer

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[lizy39ish]

Not sure I even identify with this video

....both patient n dr seemed to make VERY light of this horrible diease-

[NebraskaMedCenter]

@lizy39ish We appreciate your comment, but could not disagree with you more. Dr. Foster spent nearly two full days in the operating room to help Sue beat her cancer. Sue knows without this treatment, she would likely have a very short and limited life. If you watch till the end, you'll understand this is nothing either person takes lightly. Dr. Foster chose to focus on this highly specialized and complicated area of oncology specifically because he does NOT take cancer lightly.

[lizy39ish]

@NebraskaMedCenter I completely understand, In March, my husband was dx'ed with pmp / Appendiceal adenocarcinoma with seeding - and although I've done a marathon on researching this treatment...he - at this point is NOT a candidate for the MOAS's due to his recurrent tumor type ( correct me if Im wrong, but isnt this like an 8 in 1 surgery) THIS IS A MAJOR SURGERY AND A MAJOR VICTORY for Sue and Dr Foster<3 just sayin<3

[NebraskaMedCenter]

@lizy39ish You're correct about the surgery - it's a very long and complicated process. The removal of the abdominal tumors often takes a great deal of time. In Sue's case, it took about 15 hours. The HIPEC was done the following day. A plastic surgeon was also involved to help reconstruct some of the abdominal structures that were damaged by the cancer. Best wishes to your husband - we'll be pulling for him. If there's anything we can do here in Omaha, don't hesitate to call us! 1-800-922-0000.

[lizy39ish]

I just wanted to enlighten every1 ...Give the proper 'applause' if you will- I did watch the video till the end, for me it just seemed sugarcoated <3 thats all <3 To Sue ...my wish is that you remain free from this horrific disease for the rest of your days - never to fight this again<3 To Dr Foster - THANK GOD for all surgeons such as yourself <3 as I still pray for 'our' miracle!