Video Transcript: Peritoneal Mesothelioma Tumors Resurface

Craig was disease-free from 1998 to 2002. In 2002, he developed a tumor in his rectus muscle, which is a muscle in your stomach area. So we went back to New York and they took out a piece of his rectus muscle and replaced it with a piece of, I don’t know if "Gore-Tex" is the right word...but something similar to that is what they explained it, a mesh-type of thing to replace his muscle.  Then he was hit with radiation again.... to get any cells, and then he was fine for awhile. Recently, in the last year, Craig has had a really hard time. Last year in July, I almost lost him. What was supposed to be a two-hour surgery turned into nine hours. And sitting there waiting in New York in a waiting room by yourself. Well, I did have a friend with me, Kathy and Bob, who came down from New Hampshire to sit with me. But still, nine hours is a long time when you’re expecting two. I would call, and the operating room would say he is stable. But you know when it’s going on nine hours, something is not right. Dr. Chabot came out and said, "Shelly, Craig’s very, very sick, and I don’t know if he is going to make it through the night. You need to get Emily here. So, I called Emily on my cell phone, and I explained to her what was going on. So, Craig did make it through the night, and Dr. Chabot said the next 72 hours were absolutely critical. Craig was in the ICU. His biggest concern was gangrene, that the intestines were not going to get the blood supply they needed. He had bypassed half of his bowel. He said to me that if it wasn’t for Craig, that there was two times he stepped away from that table and said I don’t know how I am going to get this man back together again. I don’t know how I can put him back together. This is the Chief of Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian. But, he said, "I know Craig, and I know his fight. And if anybody would fight to live, it would be Craig. So I had to give him a chance." And he said, "Shelly, that’s all I am giving him, is a chance. But I can’t promise you anything." So, the next morning, it was coincidental; I ran into him when he was getting off the elevator. He was getting off, and I was rounding the corner. And I said, "He’s alive, he’s still here." And Dr. Chabot actually teared up. He said, "Shelly, I didn’t think he would be here." I mean, that’s pretty powerful.