Surgery

It has been a crazy week around here. 8 days ago my dad decided to finally go into the doctor after being sick (flu like symptoms) for over a couple of months. He got to the doctor and was sent immediately to the ER. After running a couple of tests and determining that nothing was extremely imminent, they waited another 4 hours for a room to be admitted.

By the next day, they were running lots of tests, doing a CT and MRI and what not. It didn't take long before they discovered a large mass in my dad's abdomen. They decided that surgery was necessary and scheduled him for Tuesday (3 days ago). As the doctor's talked throughout the next couple days, my parents realized that even though no one had said so, they were pretty sure they were going to find cancer.

All of sudden, the mood changed. We started to see that we were up against a large tumor and a dangerous surgery. The surgeon shared the different complications and difficulties they were anticipating. He said the surgery should last about 4 hours.

So, I had some great friends and family offer to stay with my kids so that I could spend the day at the hospital. I was prepared for a long and anxious day. I brought some cards, a book and my journal.

I got there around 12:30 and he was just being taken back to the OR. Around 1:30, we got a call from the surgeon that the anesthesia had taken effect and they were ready to begin. We all settled in for a long afternoon.

At 2:30 (only 1 hour into the surgery), our name was called and the surgeon was standing in the doorway. Everyone's heart skipped a beat until we heard the words we were not expecting, "We're done." What? Yep, all done and headed to recovery. Now we are all in a state of shock. So, my mom and brother and I head into a room with the surgeon to hear how everything went.

He said that things went way better than expected and that none of the complications they expected came about. He said that the tumor came out easily and they think they got it all. He said that he is almost sure that we are looking at is lymphoma.  They believe it is the type that is slow moving and non-aggressive.  It was such a roller coaster of emotions and I'm sure there will be more coming.

Right now, my dad is recovering in the hospital and waiting to hear the pathology report (to know for sure what kind of cancer) and to talk to the oncologist to determine what the future treatment will be.

We know the Lord is in complete control of everything and has already shown His hand through this process.  Thank you Lord for your protection over my dad during the surgery and for preparing this tumor to be removed so easily.