Surgery Day

     LouJean had surgery yesterday.  It was a long day.  She had to be at St. Mark's hospital at 9:00am.  Her surgeon was behind, so her surgery didn't begin til around 12:30pm.  Deanna, Ruthann, and Kenna took LouJean to the hospital.  I had work in the am, so I didn't arrive at the hospital until about 11:15am.  I got to see LouJean just as she was heading into the OR.
     We were told that the surgery would be a couple of hours, (4 at the most).  The surgery ended up taking about 6.5 hours!  Dr. Griffin removed a mass from her rectum about the size of an orange!  The mass extended into her vaginal wall.  Dr. Griffin had to call in a vaginal oncologist to assist him with removing the cancer.  After that was fixed, Dr. Griffin began to scrape/clean up other areas.  Apparently, the mass causes other tissue surrounding it to become inflamed (Similar to scar tissue).  While he was scraping, he accidentally cut LouJean's left  ureter.  :(  Dr. Griffin called in Dr. Fisher (A urologist) to assist him in correcting it.  Dr. Fisher attatched it in a different area and put a stent in it.
     In all, LouJean lost about 4 inches of her colon and 4 inches of her rectom.  She has 2 small incisions in her abdomen from the laprascope, a 4 inch incision just below her belly button, a drain in the lower right side of her abdomen,  a colostomy bag in the upper left side of her abdomen, a catheter, and an IV. 
     I stayed the night with LouJean.  She did really well I thought.  The CNAs and nurses had to wake her several times to check her vital signs and give medications.  LouJean awoke once yelling out for Kent.  I tried to orient her, but it will be a while before she'll be able to grasp what's going on.   
     She was able to eat a spoonful of jello and a small amount of chicken broth.  

 What a trooper!

 Our kids have been really worried about their grandma.  I found this little box in Abby's dresser. 

It reads, "People that have cancer."

 My little girl is saving up all her money to help people with cancer (It made me cry).

My little Brody has even been concerned.  Here are some emails I exchanged with Brody's teacher.

Mr. Jay:  

Hi!  Wondering how Brody is today? The other reason I wanted to contact you was that he wrote a peculiar phrase on the board, and I saw it this morning when I was setting up the classroom.

He wrote “cuting out stomache” not sure what he was intending with that phrase, but wanted you to be aware of the thought.  I usually don’t read his writing unless he brings it to me, but I remember him asking how to spell stomach at the end of the day. In light of his other behavior (running away), I thought it was best to let you know that I saw it on the board this morning.

Jay

Me:

Wow! I didn't think Brody was paying attention. Brody's grandma had surgery yesterday. She had a cancerous tumor removed from her rectum. They had to remove it from the front  (her stomach.)I stayed at the hospital with her last night. I didn't get home till about ten o'clock. That is why Brody is late to school.

Mr. Jay:

Thanks! that explains a lot! He is pretty receptive! Wasn't sure what to think when I saw that on the board in his handwriting.  He is great today, and came in from the swings at the first request!  Glad he is okay.

Jay