Out of Surgery!

Mom is out of surgery! (warning: lots of medical details ahead!  Feel free to skim if you have a queasy stomach!)

It took longer than anticipated.  Dr. Rojas (the surgeon) told us this morning that if the tumor was benign they could be done with the surgery in 45 minutes.  If it looked like cancer, he thought the surgery would take "a couple" of hours.  As it was, when the time started going to an hour, then two, we were pretty concerned.  At times like this it is so good to be together!  I held my dad's hand for a long time, something I haven't done since I was a little girl.  What a blessing to be here.

Finally the text came through the pager saying that Mom was out of surgery and "the doctor will see you now."  We waited in a conference room and prayed and prayed to combat the fear that we were all feeling.  Finally Dr. Rojas came in.  The results of the surgery were fairly good.  Here is the good news: the tumor was contained to one large mass.  It had come from her right ovary and was a whole, round, smooth mass except for a small rupture on one side.  It literally looked like a watermelon (yes, they took pictures during the procedure and we looked at them afterwards).  It had not grown fingers around her internal organs, but was pushing them out of the way, which is why she felt uncomfortable even around to her back.  The mass weighed almost 20 pounds.  (20 pounds!)  Dr. Rojas removed both ovaries as well as a large amount of lymph on the right side. 

The mixed (not quite as good) news concerns the small rupture.  The tumor was full of a lot of mucous and some of that had leaked out.  By their analysis, the tumor was not clearly benign, but it was not clearly cancerous either.  So they will be doing more testing on it in the next week in order to tell what exactly was contained within that huge round mass.  As well, as Dr. Rojas removed the tumor there was some bleeding from the artery that was feeding the tumor, and that was a bit dicey to stitch up, which is also why the surgery took a bit longer than expected. 

But, on the whole, very good news.  Dr. Rojas said there is no need to talk about chemotherapy or anything like that yet.  The news for today is quite good, and we are so thankful.

I am thankful that this whole experience has been saturated with prayer, and it has been so very special for me to be here with my family.  SO very thankful for Dr. Rojas, his thoughtfulness, care and compassion were evident and such a gracious gift for our family. 

I'll post more later, Mom's in recovery now and we are going to try to get a bite to eat before she is moved back to her room.  We are rejoicing in the Lord's provision of grace and mercy to help in our time of need, and trusting Him for the future.  Thank you to you all for praying, don't stop!  Now we want to pray for: ease in recovery, no complications or infections, good management of the pain from the surgery and help from the Lord to keep a cheerful attitude and recover well!  And, praise the Lord for Dr. Rojas and his skilled hands and compassionate manner, the fact that Mom's blood sugars stayed stable during the whole procedure, the good care we are receiving at the hospital, and the blessing of being together as a family.  How good and gracious is our Lord to sustain us!  May we continue to look to Him for strength, help, and a trusting heart for the days ahead.  

Thank you again for praying!  We will keep looking to Him for all that we need!