Something you don't often hear about is surgery being early but that actually happened today. We arrived at the hospital at 9:45am for his surgery to start at 11:45am but we got all the paper work done quickly and they were ready early. After getting all prepped and talking to the doctors I said goodbye to Rob about 10:45am and off he went. Since there were so many unknowns with this surgery we had no idea how long it would be but I was told anywhere from 2-4 hours. After I said good bye I wandered downstairs to meet my friend Catherine. She greeted me with yummy Starbucks and we sat downstairs and chatted. After having some lunch we headed back upstairs just before 1pm. I had been told a nurse might come out and give my an update around then so I didn't want to miss it. About 1:30pm Dr Nason came out and told me they were done and gave me an update.
Overall the surgery went as planned and went as well as it could. Some people were praying that the surgery would go so well that even the surgeons were surprised and I feel like that was the case! They removed 3 lymph nodes that they knew were cancerous. They also checked another area at the base of the tongue that showed up on the MRI but when pathology looked at it they confirmed it was not tumour related but likely just part of the granulation we have been seeing in the mouth. The largest tumor was slightly into the muscle at the base of the tongue so when they removed it they had to go in the mouth to re-stitch the flap. For about a week Rob will have to eat by tube feed again because they need to make sure the flap heals up properly so no food gets through the stitches and cause an infection. They did not have to do a skin graft which is a huge answer to prayer!!
As you know one of the things that we really wanted to avoid was another tracheostomy and if you have even had one you will understand why. Knowing this the doctors decided to do things a little different. The decided to keep him breathing through a tube that is down his nose into his airway. The only thing about this is he cannot pull it out and therefore has to be kept sedated. Basically it just looks like he is sleeping and they are keeping him very comfortable. This also means that he is spending the night in the ICU. The doctors reassured me that he is not in the ICU because he is really sick but because he needs the one to one care to make sure he is kept asleep. Even though he was asleep and didn't even know I was there I still wanted to stay with him. I played his music on the ipod so he could hear it and talk to him lots and held his hand.
The plan in the morning is to wake him up slowly and I am hoping to be there for that. Once he is awake they will deflate the little balloon in his throat to see if he can breath and make sure the swelling doesn't close in on his airway. If he breaths fine they will take out the tube. If he has a problem then they will have to assess the next step. The doctors seem optimistic that this will work. Please pray this is the case and that while he rests tonight the swelling goes down and that there will be no need for a trach.
Many of you have asked about Isaac and he is doing well. We have told him what is going on with daddy and he seems to be dealing as well as a toddler can. He spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa and still went to preschool in the afternoon. Hopefully if all goes well he will get to come and see daddy tomorrow which I know will be good for both of them.
Overall Rob looked very good when I left him sleeping peacefully. We still have many hurdles to get over but another one is done and we are thankful it went well. We are still unsure how long he will be in hospital this time but likely at least a week. Tomorrow will be a big day and will give us a better picture of how things will look over the next couple of weeks. I look forward to seeing Rob tomorrow and telling him he slept all of Friday away and that it is Saturday now!!
Thank you for all of the prayers today and please keep praying for a speedy recovery so we can get radiation and chemo started and beat this cancer!
Thank you Jesus for getting us through today.
Love Karen
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