Day 227, Year 9: Successful Surgery
Date: Thursday, June 5, 2014
Weather: Overcast with Rain All Day
Location: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
It has been a long day, but I have great news to report. Mark’s surgery was a success—the doctor used the new nanoknife procedure around the perimeter of the cancerous mass and then removed it, as well as five more inches of colon. The possibility of having to cut into the colon next to the mass had been mentioned, but not removing a five inch segment. This sounds huge to me, but the doctors assure us that Mark still has plenty of colon left. This unexpected part of the surgery was necessitated due to the location of the blood vessels that were involved with the mass. Dr. Ferrone explained that she had to ‘dissect’ the mass from the vessels. If the blood vessels were in any way damaged that piece of colon would not get the blood supply it needs, so best to take it out. The doctor said it was a tedious surgery due to the location of the mass but other-wise she classified it as a success. The fact that she was able to remove the cancerous mass is the best news that we could hear, so we are elated. They did not do any radiation as planned, but markers were inserted so they can radiate with complete accuracy if that would be necessary later.
Mark went into the operating room at 10:05 am and was sent to the recovery room at 3:45 pm. The surgery took about five hours. It was 5:45 pm before they let me see him and he was awake and feeling fine. Just after I arrived he started feeling a bit nauseous (Is he trying to tell me something?!!) but seems to be fine now. Hospital rules have changed and they will not let me spend the night with him, but his room is located right across from the nurse’s station so he can yell at them if they don’t answer the buzzer! Just kidding. But it is reassuring to be so close to help if it were needed. Right now Mark is sleeping peacefully, so I’m going to leave and drive across the river to Cambridge to spend the night with Sue and John Reed (Jed’s aunt and uncle).
I want to extend a huge thank you to all who sent messages of support. It means so much to know that friends and family are there to support you. Thanks to Sue and John for letting me stay with them. And a huge thank you to my very good friend Linda Stuart who drove down from New Hampshire to spend the day with me. She and her husband Mike are retiring early to become full-time bicycle tourists. So we had plenty to talk about today while waiting for the results of Mark’s surgery.
