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DMThis video is of my husband’s HIPEC surgery.
HIPEC stands for Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. It’s an intense surgery for cancers in the abdomen — to remove tumors, followed by heated chemotherapy circulated inside.
For many, it offers hope. Some people live years longer. Some even have multiple HIPEC surgeries. Typically, it lasts 8–12 hours with a 1–2 week hospital stay.
My husband’s surgery lasted 18 hours.
He spent 23 days in the hospital fighting an infection.
About a week in, he was walking laps. But when we got home… he started to decline.
I want to be clear — I’m not putting down this surgery. HIPEC can save lives.
I’m sharing this because we didn’t fully understand what we were walking into.
At the time, we believed he had stage 4 colon cancer.
We didn’t even know the name of the surgery. I describe what happened to him — not what it was called. That’s how little we understood.
We were in survival mode.
We heard “stage 4 cancer” and thought — do whatever it takes.
We trusted. Even when red flags came up, we stayed.
Three months later, everything changed.
He developed a bowel obstruction and was vomiting constantly, 24/7.
That’s when we were finally told — this wasn’t colon cancer. It was appendix cancer.
And just like that… we were handed a list of specialists and told there was nothing more they could do.
I’m angry. But I also know no one forced us to stay.
I truly believe — with everything in me — that if we had understood his cancer, seen specialists sooner, and gotten multiple opinions… things could have been different.
I believe surgery would have happened sooner —
not after 8 months,
not after 7 rounds of chemo,
not after he lost over 100 pounds,
not after his body was already weak and fighting infection.
Maybe the outcome would have been the same.
I’ll never know … But that “what if”… will live with me forever.
This is why I’m sharing.
Not to scare you.
Not to shame doctors.
But to tell you — understand your cancer.
Because when you hear “stage 4”… you panic.
But you still deserve to be informed.
#cancer
#appendixcancer
#cancerawareness
#HIPEC
#warrior
@dms_momma
