Has anyone had HIPEC surgery?

Hi @zelengirl and welcome to Connect. You may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion so that you can read about others experience with HIPEC surgery. Simply click VIEW AND REPLY in your email notification in order to find your post.

I wanted to tag fellow Connect members @jellen619, @tressa and @juliedl in hopes they will return to Connect to share their experiences.

Back to you @zelengirl, will you be undergoing this surgery soon? Or are you considering it?

I haven't had the surgery but my sister-in-law had it in 2018. They did surgery for cancerous abscess in her abdomen and then HIPEC. She was in her early 70's when she had the surgery and HIPEC, and had chemo in the fall of 2019 as prevention for recurrance and is doing very well, in fact, she and my brother are heading to Israel 1/19/2020. Of course she was in great shape when she had this all done, which is an important factor.

@virgo 1952. Always nice to hear a recovery story. I have a question for anyone out there who might have had the same situation or knowledge that I don’t have. I’ve shared with others that after my colon resection I finally was tested for c-diff and it was positive. I probably had it when I was discharged home after the surgery. So, I had a round of antibiotics for ten day’s and the dr prescribed another round for ten days. So, I’m three days into my second round. My question is: when I Asked about the follow up, the nurse told me she the dr read going to make a referral to a gastro specialist if I was still having loose bowels and frequency issues. Anyone else have this happen? I’m curious in the fact that a colon resection would lead to a digestive condition (colitis, IBS, crohns???) I’m thinking my bowel is so irritated with 2 1/2 months poor eating and crazy eating schedule (not eating so I could get out to my appts) fasting for colonoscopy, exploratory, surgery, etc.I wondering if it could be managed by diet and would resolve itself in time. Anyone have any words of wisdom for me?

Sharing my experience with HIPEC in 2020 as I know I wanted to learn as much as I could about the procedure before my surgery. I had been diagnosed with appendix cancer in June 2020 and did FOLFOX chemo after my initial surgery where my cancers was found. I had a tumor on my fallopian tube that stemmed from mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix but that wasn't understood until my surgery to remove that 5cm tumor. Knowing this was a mucin-based cancer I gravitated to HIPEC because I was concern about what could be floating around and later developing into cancer since my first surgery was done by OBGYN Oncologist not specializing in the disease. My Mayo team suggested a right hemi-colectomy (removing part of my colon as a precaution) surgical debulking removing mucin and anything concerning in the peritoneum) and HIPEC. My surgery was done after 6 rounds of chemo which I would classify as more difficult than the HIPEC procedure and the subsequent recovery. I was told not everyone is a candidate and that my overall health would be considered in determining if I would see successful treatment and recovery. I was very healthy, active and fit going into the procedure and that helped me tremendously. My procedure lasted 11 hours and when I woke up a was nauseated and out of it until the following day. It was an expansive open surgery, so I had a sizable scar from just above my pelvic bone to under my breast. On day two the doctors wrote on the white board that I should walk three times a day so as impossible as that seemed I did it. It helped my system get back to normal quickly and I was discharged after only 5 days. In a nutshell the hardest part about HIPEC is the exhaustion and lack of abdominal muscles. A good combination of walking and naps got me to a quick return to work after 8 weeks. Slowly life return to "normal" after about 4 months. More than 3 years later I have scars but am NED and back to my active life. If necessary, I would do this procedure again in a heartbeat, at Mayo Clinic with Dr. Grotz of course.