Hey, Pam! Some doctors do a "mini" open.  Smaller incison than a traditional open.  I know one of the locals here does it.  It is like 4-5 inches.  I had lap surgery and hubby had open.  Years back if you had previous abdominal surgeries docs wouldn't do lap surgery.  Now with better experience doing the surgery lap, docs have seemed to relaxed that rule and are doing more lap surgeries.  You never know til you ask. I'll have to check my profile to see what is up. The only plastic surgery I've had is the breast reconstruction.  I've had so many surgeries that the thought of another... well, not appealing at all.  Plus, insurance wouldn't pay for it so I'd have to foot the bill and honestly... I'd prefer new windows.  LOL. Best wishes, Kathy

Can you do protein shakes to get your calories up? My heart goes out to you. Kathy

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in my ducts, in 2002. Even though it was caught very early I still had to have a mastecomy because It was in several of the ducts, I did not have to have radiation or chemo or take any anti cancer drugs. I chose to have reconstruction at the time of the mastecomy using the tramflap method. Thats when they take part of your tummy and a stomache muscle to build a new breast. I had lots of complications and infections,  and with the way it has left my body I think I should have gone another route. But to get to the point, 5 years later and I want to have weight loss surgery and I dont know if it can be done on me because I have lots of scar tissue and no muscle on my left side of my tummy. I know its a long shot but has anyone else been through this? and had the surgery or contimplating it?

Hi, If she has called you then she is not shutting you out. I have worked with support groups with cancer survivors for a few years and I am a cancer survivor and so is your friend. I can tell you how I felt when going through chemo and I have found that most people that I have  spoken with felt pretty much the same. Those that called and asked what they could do never did and those that showed up and did, never asked. One of the best days I had when going through chemo was when a friend from 4 hours away showed up with a bunch of snacks I could not eat. She put me in the car and took me to the mall. I made it to the bench outside the mall and we sat there for about 1/2 hour before she took me home again. It was nice to have the immediate support from hubby and family but it was always nice to talk to someone about the hubby and family. Be careful that you dont confuse her actions with what you want her to act like, or need her to act like. As far as when is it a good time to talk? Just like someone without cancer.....if it is a bad time, she will let you know. Just don't take it personally and don't give up keep trying. I hope this has helped.

I had a Roux-n-Y on 4/2/06. I was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in my head on 6/27/06. I underwent surgery on 7/2/06. I did 7 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy beginning 8/7/06. I barely fought my way through without losing too much weight, but finally made it to the end of the 7 weeks. However, following treatment, I lost another 20 pounds (which felt great but I did not need to lose it).  I put on some weight over the next 8-9 months and was sitting with an extra 7-8 pounds when my cancer returned. I was diagnosed with the return of adenocarcinoma in my bones on 10/10/07. This time they say it's terminal. My best case scenario is that chemo may give me a little bit of extra time. I did two weeks of radiation in 11/07 and began chemo on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I am scheduled to have chemo every 3 weeks. However, my doctor cancelled my 3rd chemo for a week because I had already lost 14 pounds. Scans indicate that the chemo is keeping the cancer from spreading (although not shrinking what is already there). Unfortunately, my doctor is very adament that if I lose any more weight, chemo will have to be stopped until I gain some weight back. (During which time the cancer will continue to grow.) I eat as much as I can throughout the day and am basically stuffed and miserably full from the time I wake up until I go to bed. I have hypoglycemia and dumping syndrome, so I have to watch my sugar intake. I can not just eat junk food because I have to be mindful of nutirution in addition to the number on the scale. So I eat lots of fat protein foods (hamburgers. etc).  If anyone has any suggestions, I would be eternally grateful. Thanks, Angela