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Successful Cancer Operation [1]

['Angela Marx', 'Greg Dworkin', 'Citizen Earth']

Date: 2026-06-12  

Just a note to all of the kind people who wished me a successful procedure and a swift and full recovery.

After a scary week plus when they were trying to determine if I could survive the surgery (a full hysterectomy to treat endometrial cancer), I was finally cleared for the procedure on TUESDAY, had my operation Thursday at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Portland, Oregon.

For the second time in two years, I’ve had a young, woman surgeon for surgical treatment of cancer (first was thyroid, this second was for endometrial cancer). I was happy, because the closer they are to the last two years of residency the more surgeries and current (new) procedure/methods/medical options they will have under their belt. When I had surgeries in the 1980s and early 1990s, the doctors were mostly men.

Now it’s just a couple weeks waiting on the pathology report, to find out if the pre-cancerous diagnosis prior to surgery was still in effect at the time of surgery, or it those little bastards were able to reach official cancerous stage and metastisize somewhere else in my body.

My deepest thanks to everyone who sent me Good Wishes for a successful procedure and a full and swift recovery. I carried those thoughts with me into the operating room and they did indeed help me keep a positive attitude leading up to the surgery.

If you live in the greater Portland, Oregon Metro area, I cannot strongly enough urge you to consider Kaiser Permanente NW (KP NW) for your healthcare needs as a Medicare. Because it is a NON PROFIT organization, both premiums and co-pays for Medicare patients are a godsend.

My full co-pay for this surgery was $160.00 – NOT a typo, less than two hundred dollars, all inclusive.

If I’d had regular Medicare, there would have been separate co-pays for:

✔ Operating room services

✔ Every individual provider other than Staff nurses (surgeon, anesthesiologist, or other specialty providers if needed)

✔ Type and cross match lab services (for blood type matching for any blood products used during surgery)

and likely a lot more.

With KP NW all of these services are a bundled service, with a single co-pay.

My co-pay for the previous cancer surgery (complete Thyroidectomy including both lobes) was less, although I can’t remember the exact dollar number (currently taking hydrocodone and Tylenol and cannabis THC/CBD gummies for post surgical pain).

I also did not have to go out and search for a facility and surgeon to treat me, and I worked as Front Desk at a small single physician clinic twice at two different clinics back in the 2007-2010 period, so I had to help patients understand how much of seeking care was THEIR WORK.

Contrary to ‘common knowledge’ about Medicare, not every doctor in the country is required to accept you as a Medicare Patient. If a primary care doctor, for example, has a certain percentage of their patient load already on Medicare Insurance, they can decline to accept you as a NEW Medicare patient.

So thank you for your kind support in the weeks leading up to my surgery, I swear it made a difference.

Love and Affection to you all,

angie

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/12/800054129/community/successful-cancer-operation/

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