A Light-Hearted Visit from Susan and Bisel

It always lifts Mom's spirits to get visits from those that she loves, and she is especially happy to get visits from her sisters and their families. Today, Susan and Bisel made the drive from Logan to come and see Mom, and we had a great visit with them. They both always bring a smile wherever they go, and it was fun to sit and chew the fat for a couple hours. We learned that Aunt Susan has very few baby pictures of herself that she knows of (and one that she was pretty sure is of her is apparently disputed as not being her :) ). We also got to hear some good catch-up stories about their kids and how they are doing. Audrey, we'll understand if you want to start packing heat after your experience at the gas station!

Flowered and Showered

Mom was able to get her first shower in several days today. I didn't think she was really smelling that bad, but she certainly enjoyed getting clean and fresh again. :)
Her room is quickly becoming flower central, with buds and well wishes from lots of friends, family, and others that want to show Mom how special she is to them. Here she is, modeling the new spring look, entitled "Flowered and Showered."

What's Black and Blue and Red All Over?

So a funny thing happened on the way to surgery last Monday. As they were prepping Mom to take her down to the 2nd floor for surgery, they needed to start an IV. There was a nurse intern on hand and they asked Mom if it would be OK if he started the IV for her, to which mom asked "Is he really good. Do you think he'll do a good job?" Well, I haven't met a nurse yet that would say something like "Heck no, I wouldn't even trust him to give my cat an enema," so she responded with something like "he's really good. It will be fine." The poor nurse intern was shaking and nervous, so we all excused ourselves before he started working with any live needles. Needless to say, that didn't turn out so well. Mom ended up with a golf ball sized bolus of blood pooling in her left forearm, and no IV.
What was even funnier, though, was that we then took her down to surgery where one of the more senior nurses gave her a poke in the other forearm in hopes of starting the IV, with the same result! A big ball of pooled blood immediately popped up. So we pulled in the big guns. The nurse anesthetist that was going to be putting mom under for the surgery was good enough to come and start the IV. Slick as slick.

Now, several days later, all those IV misses and other pokes for blood sampling have Mom looking like someone who belongs in a battered women's shelter. If you look close in the pictures, you can see the honking big bruises on her arms.

A Good but Speedy Heart

Mom had a relatively restful night last night in the hospital. The pain medication seems to be doing its job and allowing her to rest and recover.
Her heart has been racing along at about 130-140 beats per minute for at least the last several days, and at first everyone just thought it was due to the pain and stress that her body was under, but even now after the surgery when the pain is well managed, her heart is still speeding in a construction zone where the fines double. The doctors haven't yet figured out what is causing it but they are trying a few things to see if they can identify the source of the problem. The current thinking is that the problem originates in her thyroid gland, so they are diagnosing and attempting treatment along that path. Today was the earliest possible day she could have gone home from the hospital, but she is still feeling pretty fragile, and until they get this racing heart under control, she will probably stay there. Tomorrow will be the earliest she will come home.
Mom has had a steady stream of visits from friends, family, and co-workers, and has really enjoyed having people that she loves come for visits. Her room is starting to fill up with flowers and get-well wishes and she is getting to see just how much she means to so many people she has met and gotten to know. Thanks to everyone for your continued thoughts (and actions!) and prayers.

Visit with Dr. Robison This Afternoon

Dr. Robison (Gynecologist and surgeon who paired up with Dr. Ericson to perform the surgery last night) came in for rounds this afternoon and visited with Mom about the results of the surgery. He explained what he could about the nature of the tumor and Mom asked for as much detail as possible about what he found and what to expect. Dr. Robison indicated that the tumor was of a more aggressive variety, and it was one that was difficult to treat. We won't know until sometime next week what the true nature of the tumor is (i.e. where it originated, how aggressive it is, etc.), but Dr. Robison did not lead anyone to believe that complete extraction or full treatment of the tumor was very likely.
Mom is going to rest up tonight, on a much improved pain management regimen. She is doing really great and is excellent spirits, still keeping us in stitches and still seems to enjoy having all of her nut-case family around. :) She sends her love and thanks for all the prayers, fasting, and faith that have been exercised in her behalf over the last few days. Every time we tell her about how many people love her and are thinking of her, she says "Well, I love them," and you can see in her eyes that that is the absolute truth.

First Night After Surgery

Mom came out of surgery very well last night and had us in stitches with her slurred speech and semi-intelligible conversation. We had a great time sharing stories and walking down memory lane a little. Aunt Janet and Aunt Susan kept us all laughing most of the day, and they stayed until Mom was safely out of surgery and had had a chance to talk with them a little.
It sounds like Mom was able to rest some last night and is settling in for a couple more days in the hospital. The pain is not under full control yet, so rest is sporadic at best right now, but Mom has been in good spirits, positive as ever. The doctor will be in this morning to talk to Mom about the results of the surgery and to talk about what the next steps are.

Initial Surgery Report from Dr. Robison

Mom is out of surgery. The tumor was the size they had expected, it didn't involve any other vital major organs. It involved one overy but they took both out. It had grown up to the bladder but did not look like it had penatrated into the bladder. They did a frozen sample biopsy and got a preliminary report back that indicates that it is a strongly non-differentiated tumor. (A more advanced stage of tumor.) The tumor had grown down and involved the pelvic wall which can not be completely extracted. The did an optimal bulk removal, which means they removed all piece of the tumor more than 2 centimeters in diameter. There are pieces of the tumor that could not be removed embedded in the pelvic wall. The doctor didn't feel like the tumor acted or looked like ovarian cancer. He wasn't sure where the cancer came from. He said the biopsy indicated that it is an agressive fast growing tumor (not confirmed until next week when the full biopsy report is done.)

She will be in the hospital for 2-3 days. No bodily funtions will be affected for now. The doctor was worried that the cancer was more advanced than they would have liked to have seen it, before catching it.

She is still in recovery. Will let you know how she is feeling when she wakes up. Love you all.