Surgery Went Well!!!

I know several people have asked how my mom is doing. I thought I would post her condition here in my blog so all who is concerned will know.

First, people know that mom was having surgery, but didn't know the reasoning behind it. Mom's gallbladder was completely calcified and hard as a rock. The doctor told her that it was pre-cancerous. If it didn't come out now it would turn into full fledged cancer within a few short months if not sooner. Gallbladder cancer has a 100% death rate - no one survives gallbladder cancer. This wouldn't be so bad, you know just a routine gallbladder surgery, but Mom has a severe blood condition, Protein S Deficiency. When this protein is deficient in the blood, the blood coagulates much faster than it is supposed to, the lower the number the faster the clotting. Mom has been on blood thinners for several years now. The major concern with the surgery was that if the level of medication in her blood was not exactly right she would either develop blood clots, going to heart lungs, heart or brain, or the blood would not clot and she could bleed out.

Now you know the plight leading into the surgery...

Mom's surgery was today. It was scheduled for 9am this morning, but didn't actually take place until about 10:30. At 1pm she was out and the doctor announced that the surgery went better than expected. Prior to the surgery the doctor was considering still trying to do the surgery laporoscopically (I probably butchered the spelling of that) rather than the full "cut open her entire side" kind of surgery. He reviewed the two months of test results and concluded that the gallbladder state was just too advanced. He was afraid the gallbladder would break apart during the removal process. If that did happen, the cells would attach to other areas of her body and continue to advance into a cancer state elsewhere. This would affect so mcuh more than just her gallbladder. Needless to say it ended up being the "cut open your entire side" kind of surgery.

We did have to wait in the waiting area for a fair amount of time, over 1 1/2 hours with 6 tired kids. Grandpa and I took turns taking the kids (my 4 & Michelle's 2) on walks. I am very grateful that we got there about 2 hours later than we had planned on. Mom was finally out of recovery and moved to her own room somewhere between 2:30 & 3pm. Not being moved to ICU first was a tremendous thing.

We took turns taking in two of the kids at a time to see Grandma. She was white, looked very tired and in pain. Still she managed to keep a smile on her face for our visit. The kids were gentle and took turns telling Grandma that they loved her and gave her kisses.

Today my list of thanks is 10 thank you's to a loving Father in Heaven who answered our prayers. He blessed the doctors who cared for my Mom and blessed her with the courage and fortitude she needed to make it through this surgery. She still has a long road of recovery, but I know she will be just fine!

I love my mom. We have always been close. I don't know what I would have done at this time if I would have lost her. Thankfully those thoughts can be saved for another day!