Surgery Day - 2:30 pm

Dad is out of surgery.  The nurse who gave us the news last said that it would be at least a couple more hours so when the floor nurses came to show us Dad's room, Mom, Evan and I went to drop off some of our stuff.  Well, of course, the doctor comes to tell us Dad is out of surgery.  We were pretty frustrated that the doctor wouldn't wait for us and that the nurse in the waiting area refused to let us see the doctor after we came back.  After all, it was the MDA nurses that took us away from the waiting room!!! 

Anyway, Dr. Swiffer---as I like to call him---actually his name is Dr. Swisher (the surgeon), came and talked to Kim and let her know some details of the surgery.  He said everything went well.  There weren't any visible signs of cancer seen at all.  They took about 1/3 of his esophagus and about 1/5 of his stomach (as planned).  They will do testing on the removed tissue to see if there is any cancer present in them.  

Right now, Dad is in recovery.  We haven't been able to see him.  They are waiting until he wakes up before anyone can go see him.  They said it could take a couple hours and since Dad likes his sleep, I don't doubt that will be the case!  Dad did have an issue with the epidural that he was given, but since we weren't here, we don't know the details of that other than they are going to redo the epidural.  This will help with his pain management as it will numb him from the upper chest down to his stomach.  So, hopefully that new epidural will work for him!

They will have him up and moving today or early tomorrow.  He won't receive anything via his feeding tube or by mouth for 3 days and so will receive nutrition solely through his IV for those days.  We don't know how long he will be in the hospital... they said some have left in less than a week and others have stayed more than two weeks.  10-14 days is the norm.  Dad will have drainage tubes put in and those will probably be in for a week.  Also, he will have a tube going up his nose to keep his stomach decompressed so there's no leakage.  I hope it comes out quickly as Dad has been saying he is worried about the discomfort of that particular tube.

Nurses said that they will be coming in hourly for at least the first couple of days to check his vitals and his breathing... so he may not get that much rest after all. 

We are all so anxious to see him.  Dad said he thinks he might get the wrong idea when he wakes up and sees his entire family circled around him!!!  :)

I will post more later after we see how he is doing physically and have a better idea of how he is handling his pain.  Thank you all for your prayers and love.... we are feeling it... BIG TIME.

Surgery Day - 12:30 pm

We just received the latest update...they aren't very detailed in their updates...  

They have finished loosening up his innards while laying on his back and have just turned him onto his side to do the same from the side.  Apparently, there is a lot of loosening and moving around of one's insides before the actual surgical/cutting process begins.  All of our insides are held into place otherwise we would all be sloshing around and all of our guts would be in our feet... so they have to move things around to get to Dad's esophagus.  

So, that's where we are at.

We are all hanging out in the waiting area.  There are easily over 150 people here in the waiting area.  There are 30 operating rooms and that doesn't even count the outpatient surgeries.  That is so crazy that this hospital is booked up every day with that many people sitting and waiting to hear about their loved ones.  

We have kept busy with card games this last couple of hours.  Most people are just sitting around, talking on cell phones and staring at each other.  Maybe people are thinking we are strange because we aren't sitting around sulking and staring at each other the whole time, but seriously, that would make the time go SO slow!  So, we are trying to keep our minds occupied and the time goes a little faster... I mean, it's still slow, but it does pass a bit more quickly.

I suppose everyone copes differently... One of our 'favorite' fellow waiting room family members passes the time by whistling "Amazing Grace" and "Moon River"-- LOUD and CONTINUOUSLY!  Evan is about to karate chop him.  Kim is getting irritated by loud cell phone talkers.  I am busily playing games and blogging.  Pat continues playing video games on his laptop--exactly what he would be doing at home.  Mom is playing with me. 

Next update in about 2 hours.

Surgery Day- 10:20 am

UPDATE:  Nurse came to update us.  She didn't say much.  She said the surgery started at 8:29am and they hadn't taken anything out yet and that we had awhile to wait.  Next update is at noon.... or around then.. they were 20 minutes late giving us our update.

MEANWHILE:

We finished a 1000 piece puzzle before the first update.  woo hoo!!!  My job as entertainer has been successful thus far.  Next update in a couple hours!!!

Surgery Day- 8:00 am

Dad went into surgery about a half hour ago.  He was feeling good this morning and is ready to get this surgery over with.  They said the surgery should be about 6 hours but could go longer depending on how fast things go and if there is any more work they need to do once they see what everything looks like inside.

We left (all 6 of us) for MDA early this morning...4:30am... I don't think my brother Evan has ever been conscious that early.  They picked me up and I came running down the drive way with my backpack full.  Dad rolled his eyes at my over-preparedness but I just hope I packed enough.  After all, I am in charge of entertainment. So, the pack is filled with games, puzzles and other fun things to help pass the time.

Dad got these really cool socks...or are they leggings because they are open-toed?  Not sure, but they are awesome.  They are nylon so you can see his leg hair through them... classic.  Last night I bought Dad some slippers.  He gave me the assignment of picking him up a slip on, normal pair of rubber soled slippers.  Well, that was what I was intending on getting him, but I saw some really cool neon green slippers that are designed with mop-type bottoms that clean your floors as you walk!  How cool is that?!?  Well, Dad didn't think they were very cool.  Fine, I will keep them.  I bought his pair of boring, brown, slip on slippers just in case he didn't like the neon green anyway.

Mom left Dad with a male nurse who thought Dad was hilarious, so I am sure Dad was happy enough before he slipped into dreamland.  He gets an epidural.  Did I mention that yet?  Yup, this makes me happy for some reason... I guess because he gets to experience a joy of child birth.  Maybe he will appreciate us women in his life a little more :).

We should be receiving an update sometime around 10 and then every couple hours after that.  I will keep everyone posted.

Tomorrow is Surgery Day

Tomorrow is the big day!  Surgery day is finally upon us.  We're all busy packing bags and getting ready for a hospital stay.  Dad met with the surgeon today and they've decided to continue on with the original game plan of taking out the lower section of the esophagus and the upper portion of the stomach.  Because of the positioning of the original tumor and how it grew into the thickened esophagus, there is high potential of cancerous tissues and cells resurfacing if they don't take out that upper portion of the stomach.  

Dad is eager to get the surgery done and be well on his way to ridding himself of cancer altogether.  The recovery from this particular surgery is quite lengthy, but our dad is a pretty tough guy so I imagine he will up in no time.  He will probably be in the hospital anywhere from a week to two weeks, but probably more like 8 to 10 days.  It will all depend on how his body reacts.  

Surgery is scheduled for first thing in the morning, so I plan on posting updates throughout the day as we hear updates ourselves.  Please check the blog often for updates.  Prayers are very welcome, this is a major surgery and does include many risks.  Someone has been watching out for Dad so far... I think He is still keeping his eye on Dad and still has many plans for him yet!

Good News Keeps on Comin'!

Just a quick post to inform everyone that the PET scan and CT both came back and showed remarkable results.  The cancer is not found at all.  There is a little thickening in the wall of the esophagus, but no actual cancer.  This is amazing and wonderful news to receive.  

You may be wondering, like I had been, why one would still do surgery when the scans are clear.  Well, the chances of this particular cancer returning to the same location is quite high... I think my dad said 50-75%.  And if for some reason we didn't do the surgery and the cancer did come back, the surgery that would need to be performed would be much more involved and difficult to recover from.  Plus, I'm sure it would be hard to get over choosing not to do the surgery and then have it come back with a less than positive outcome.  So, we go with what gives Dad the best odds... surgery.

We are getting all ready for surgery on Wednesday.  Tomorrow Dad meets with the surgeon to figure out how involved the surgery will be.  I must be kind of sick or something, because I am actually looking forward to Wednesday.  You see, it will be the first time our little family (all kids plus parents) go somewhere together without spouses or children.  It will be like old times, except you know, we will be dropping Dad off to get hacked open....  I mean, for him to receive a procedure to ensure his continued health :).  MD Anderson has lots of puzzles all around so I am eager to get my hands on a few of those, plus I have so little quiet time that I have a whole list of things I want to work on while waiting in the hospital.  I know what you are thinking... I AM sick.  Well, it's true, but honestly we are all a little nervous, but mostly eager to get this thing dealt with.  Good news keep on comin'!  We love it!

I'll post tomorrow to let you know surgery details.

BIG NEWS, GREAT NEWS!!!

"I can't see any tumor and don't see anything cancerous", is what the endoscopy doctor told us today after Dad's appointment.  We still are awaiting results from the PET scan and CT scan before surgery, but this is the best case scenario at this point and we couldn't be any happier about this!  Now that the good news has been shared... here's how things went...

Today was dad's endoscopy--performed to let us see how he has responded to his treatment--and yours truly got to take him to his appointment.  I have to admit, I was kind of excited to go as it made me feel more a part of things and I am sort of a busy body and like being in my parents' business and this enabled me to do more of that. 

Here is dad waiting to get prepped with an IV before his procedure.  We are in a large room with 10+ little rooms like this separated by curtain partitions.  Dad was kind of amped up at this point because for the last endoscopy he received, they gave him some really good drugs that put him out for a good hour.  He says it was one of the best naps he's ever had.

Check out these socks!  How cool are these?  Double sided for double wearability.  Will MD Anderson think of everything!?  I certainly thought these were the coolest things ever.... plus they kept his toes nice and toasty.  This was good because it was freezing cold in that place.  I was fortunate that I thought to bring a sweater or I would have turned into an ice cube.  They brought dad as many heated blankets as he wanted.  No one asked me if I wanted a blanket.  --- The nurses at MDA are very nice.  They are great in fact, though they don't always appreciate dad's humor and appreciated his side-kick's (me) humor even less.  What!?  We're funny people.... we crack ourselves up and that is enough for us.

Post recovery and awaiting results, Dad was adventurous and tried out cran-grape juice.  I was glad he found something he liked as he was a bit cranky because the nurse informed him that he would not be sedated as he was last time and would not receive as much medication.  This meant he was awake mostly and gagged a few times... you would too.

The interesting part came at the end while the doctor was giving us the results.  You see, endoscopy involves tubes going down the hatch like in my dad's procedure and tubes going up as in a colonoscopy.  Apparently, during colonoscopy, air gets up into your system.  Well, in the recovery area, it was like some disgusting chorus as the colonoscopy patients woke up out of sedation and released their air.  A lot of air.  It was gross.  Natural I suppose, but still gross.  Dad was just happy they used the correct tube for his procedure... he wouldn't have appreciated the after taste if they hadn't.

All and all, AWESOME NEWS TODAY!  Seriously, this could not have been better news to have and we certainly are feeling encouraged by this.  Tomorrow dad goes in for his CT scan.  He will have to drink gross barium.  All results from biopsies, CT scan and PET scan will be received on Monday.  This is the big one where they tell us if or how much cancer is still in Dad's body.  Tuesday-  meeting with the surgeon.  Wednesday-Scheduled surgery.  

Lots happening, check back regularly for updates!!!