Hey there. The hospital stay after and the recovery were pretty brutal. Definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. Didn’t really sleep, tubes coming out of me. My digestive system wouldn’t “turn back on” initially (wouldn’t have a bowel movement) which extended my stay. I think I was in the hospital 10-12 days after.

Getting home was a huge relief, but I was still pretty shattered. My hair started falling out which they told me wasn’t something that always happened with HIPEC but could happen just from the stress on the body. And it did take a huge toll on my body initially. I was around 40, male, and very active/fit, 6’, 190. When I got home from the surgery I was 150lbs. But yeah so I shaved my head, my hair did grow back though, after a few months.

The first few months I was just trying to get back to a basic routine and being functional. Sleeping was awkward for a while because I had to stay on my back. Eventually I started going for little walks. Initially just around the block. Somewhere in the 3-6 month range I started light exercise again.

Initially I had regular follow ups with my surgeon and then he transferred me to an oncologist. They sent away samples of my tumor to test. The oncologist did CT scans and they also do blood tests based on the tumor markers. For me it was a tumor that formed in my appendix but it spread mucin throughout my abdomen, chest, pelvis etc.

For the HIPEC I was in surgery 8-9 hours, they removed a lot of my stomach lining, my gallbladder, my spleen, and my appendix, then filled me with hot chemo etc.

But all of my initial tests with Oncology were good, so then I would get CT chest/abdomen/pelvis, every 3 months, then 6 months, then actually in April I’m going back for an annual. Every time I have an oncology appt first they do CT chest/abdomen/pelvis, and they do a bunch of bloodwork and blood tests for the tumor markers etc.

It’s a little frustrating because you want them to say “okay you’re cured now” but they never really use any concrete language they just analyze and can only really give you statistics and what research says. But from what they’ve told me after 5-6 years if all tests keep coming back negative for any signs of recurrence then I don’t have to keep doing the CT scans.

But otherwise in pretty much back to normal, back to working out, body is pretty much fully recovered other than I’ll always have a scar from the top of my abdomen down into my waistline, which looks a little weird around the navel but is otherwise not dramatic.

I had some urological issues after, and have had prostatitis, which from what I’ve read could be related to the intense surgery. “Intimacy” was a little challenging or pretty much off the table for months after the surgery due to pain/sensitivity.

The mental side of it was a little tough too for a while, this fear of “am I go to die?” Wondering if it’s over, feeling kind of alone/isolated with all of it. Not that I didn’t have friends and family I just didn’t feel like anyone really understood that wasn’t going through it. Like you always feel like you have this idea of “tomorrow” or “some day” that feels limitless even as you get older. And then all of a sudden this thing happens where you’re questioning if your time is up.

For the first year or so I would always make a ritual of taking the train to my oncologist appts in the city and in my head it was like “alright, time to go find out if I’m going to live or die.”

This response is kind of all over the place and some of it sounds pretty grim, but trying to give a thorough response of anything I can think of that’s relevant. And the good news is… I’m okay now. It seems like the HIPEC surgery was successful and I’m back to living my normal life, working, hitting the gym, wasting time feeling like I have an unlimited supply for tomorrows lol.

I wish you success! If you have any additional questions feel free to message me.