On The Countdown

The sight seeing portion of our trip is now over. We had a great weekend together in Boston. We walked the Freedom Trail and visited Vermont to see the birthplace of Joseph Smith. Starting tomorrow, the only sites we will see will be on the inside of the hospital.

Today we drove back into Boston to pick up Nate's mom, Nancy, and my sister, Genn, at the airport. Nate is also doing his surgery prep today.

Our appointment with Dr. Lambert went well on Friday. The CT scan gave us a more clear picture of what's going on in Nate's belly. Dr. Lambert walked through the entire scan with us and showed us the problem spots. As we knew, there are a few tumors left. The scan showed mucous on his liver, on his diaphragm, on his ommentum, around his spleen, and possibly around his gallbladder. We could also see the big tumor by his sigmoid colon. It measures about 8 cm in diameter. This one will be the biggest problem to remove. She could see a nice plane between the tumor and the colon but couldn't be sure that the plane extends all the way around. We are praying that the tumor hasn't adheased to the colon and that she'll be able to remove it without having to take a lot of the colon. If she can get all of the visible tumors, mucous, and peritoneal lining, she will administer the heated chemo.

She estimates that the surgery will take 12 to 15 hours. We have to be at the hospital in the morning at 6 a.m. We'll be put in a holding area for all the preparation. They'll place the IV's, the epidural, draw blood, and we'll get to talk with Dr. Lambert again. By The time Nate gets to the OR and she's ready to start the surgery, it'll be around 9 a.m. So, the 12 to 15 hour countdown will begin at that point. He may not be out until midnight. When the surgery is over, Nate will go straight to the ICU. Since it'll be so late, Dr. Lambert said she'll probably leave him intubated overnight. So he'll be "under" for almost 24 hours. Let's all pray that he some awesome dreams! I'm grateful that he won't have to wake up for awhile. Dr. Lambert will meet with us when the surgery is done and talk with us about the outcome. At that point we'll be able to see Nate in the ICU.

Nancy, Genn, and I will be in the surgical waiting room for the duration. We expect to get periodic updates, but probably not very often. I will post to the blog every time I do get an update. If you would like to join us in our prayers, we're praying for Nate's body to be strong and able to endure the surgery, that the tumors will be able to be removed well, that Dr. Lambert will perform to the best of her ability and that we will feel peace and comfort.

Our kids are having fun with my parents up in Idaho. They're all aware of what's going on, and they continue to pray for Nate as well. I pray that they'll feel comfort and have lots of fun tomorrow! We appreciate our family for helping us so much.

Tomorrow is going to be one long day! Thanks again for all the love and prayers offered on our behalf. We've learned so much about the goodness of others. We're grateful for our blessings. I'm grateful for Nate and his amazing attitude and courage. He is my rock.