I’m back from Georgia, at least briefly. Sorry not to post sooner, but we had no Internet access there.
Daddy’s surgery was successful, and he’s recovering well. The doctor removed his right lung and some lymph nodes, and the tumor is gone!!!
Yesterday was very long — we got up at 3:30 am so we could be on the road early and get to the hospital by 6:00. This seemed to be lot of extra time for a scheduled 10:00 surgery, but I guess there was always the chance that the first case would be cancelled or shorter than expected. The traffic was so light that we arrived by 5:30. Daddy signed in, the receptionist gave us a beeper (just like Outback!), and we settled down to wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. He was finally called back to pre-op at 8:15. Mama was told that she could come back and stay with him as soon as he was prepped. That took another 90 minutes. He went to the OR at 11:00. The ladies at the reception desk promised us that someone would call to let us know if the surgeon was able to go forward with removing the lung, but no one ever did.
We sat, we read, we napped, we eavesdropped on the conversations of other waiting families, and we waited for our beeper to buzz. The surgeon came out around 3:00 to tell us that all had gone well and we’d be able to see Daddy in a couple of hours. That turned into four because the recovery room staff was having trouble getting his pain under control. He finally arrived in the ICU about 7:00, and we got to see him at 8:00. He was bristling with tubes and wires, but he was lucid and quite happy that he was still with us.
We spent a lot of time with him today, and he’s doing very well. He’s still in pain, but that’s to be expected with this surgery. He’s not breathing as deeply as the doctor would like because it hurts to inhale, but the nurses are working hard to adjust his pain meds. He’ll spend a couple more days in the ICU and then, if all goes well, he’ll move to a regular room for a week or so.
I’m just amazed at how well he is doing and how good he looks. The doctor warned us that, given his age, we could expect him to be quite confused for a day or two, but that hasn’t happened. I credit his overall good health and strength, and I hope his recovery continues to go well.
I’ll be back and forth for a few weeks, but I’ll post updates. Thank you all for your prayers. I felt them, and I know Daddy and the rest of my family did as well. You are the best readers in the blogosphere!