I am finally going to update my blog. I had high hopes before I left for Washington to update from the hospital and all through my recovery but here we are a month after surgery and I am just getting around to updating. Sorry to all who have been waiting.
The surgery went well and I now have hope that my cancer will go into remission and I feel so much peace with that hope which I have not felt in a long long time. I had an amazing surgeon who very confidently attacked the cancer in my abdomen. He took off the part of the liver that had the tumors in it, took out my appendix, took out all the scar tissue from previous surgeries, put my small intestine in a sling to keep it up and out of the lower abdomen (it was prestine looking :):)), recut my colon and reattached it, and scraped away the tumor that was on my abdominal lining to the tailbone. Then they filled my abdomen with heated chemo and massaged it around for 90 minutes. Of course I was asleep for all of this. The surgery lasted 8 hours and then I spent 2 hours in recovery. Pretty aggressive but I am so glad that he was willing to do this surgery.
So here are some lovely pictures from the hospital...don't ask me why I am smiling...it wasn't all pleasant. I spent most of the time just laying down relaxing or walking my rounds in the hospital trying to get my bowels moving again. Mike would come over first thing in the morning and help me get going before the nurses even came in. It was such a relief to have him there and I was really sad when he had to leave to go back home and back to work. I had a tube in my nose for about 5 days which kept my stomach clear of all the post surgical fluids. The night before it came out I had a dream that I was sucking on a straw and I couldn't get it out of my mouth so I pulled....when really I pulled on my nose tube (elephant trunk). Luckily I woke up after only pulling out a few inches and quickly pushed it back down. The nurses all had a great laugh about it...they had had patients pull out the tube but never any that pushed it back in.
Emily surprised me on Mother's Day. She showed up and I was soooo confused. I didn't understand what was happening...how she was there or how she got there. When I realized that she had driven over from Seattle just to see me we had a nice cry and I loved that she came to see me even if it was a quick trip.
My brother and sister in law were the perfect hosts and it was nice to have a local and comfortable place to recover for a few days in Spokane. The weather was so great and it was fun to spend time with them even though I just layed around a lot. My mom was with me the entire time and it was so nice to have her close by. We drove to Seattle when I felt up to it. It was about a 5 hour drive but not too bad. I have been here recouping ever since. There is just nothing like recovering at mom's house. Mike has been coming up on the weekends which gives me a big boost and I am so glad to see him and he is such a support to me. I am headed home in a week with a quick stop in Spokane to see the doctor again. Being home will be good and I will be grateful to have Mike there to help me in my further recovery. Here are some pictures from recovery....just laying around and getting lots of rest.
This weekend we have the annual Teddy Bear Picnic and my baby brother Jordan is graduating from dental school. He is going on to Endodonist school in Texas so he's not quite done yet but he will be Dr. Bolles. How exciting.
I will have a new plan when I get home which includes radiation on my tailbone area, heavy chemo and continued scans but hopefully the cancer will give me a break for a long while.
Love to all for the continued thoughts and prayers being sent my way daily. I know I am loved and that I have a Heavenly Father who still performs miracles. I am fighting and praying to stay alive and I know that He hears my prayers and guides me to amazing doctors and procedures. I hope that I can be a servant in His hands and continue to help those around me.
