I’ve been having some technical difficulties accessing the Intranet, so I apologize for not being able to update the blog yesterday. Anyway here is the news, from what I understand from Eric who spent the day at the hospital yesterday:

The procedure was pretty long, about 4 hours for the actual surgery and then another hour or so to sew things up. So what was done – it seems that the colon tumor was already killed off by the radiation/chemo, and only some dead tissue was left (yay!). The remaining tissue was sent off to the lab to be analyzed. The colostomy was closed off so that the this part of the colon can “rest” and recover from the radiation, which left some scarring behind. A new ostomy was created, lower on the body, called an ileostomy which will take over the tasks of the colostomy for now. The eventual goal is that in the future the ileostomy will be reversed and her internal digestive systems reconnected, back to their normally functioning state. However this process will take some time, maybe 6 – 12 months.

The colostomy had recently developed a hernia, which the doctor was able to repair during the surgery. Sara will be happy about this, as the hernia was uncomfortable but initially the doctor didn’t think she would be able to fix it during the current surgery.

For some reason Sara didn’t get a room until towards the end of the day, so Eric said she was very tired and a bit “out of it” in the evening. Unlike the previous surgery in January (liver surgery), Sara didn’t get a spinal block this time so the painkillers were making her a bit woozy. Sara’s sister-in-law stayed with her last night and Eric went back to the hospital this morning. We should get more detailed information from the doctor today, as apparently the report was a bit rushed yesterday as she had other surgeries to attend to. So it may turn out that some of what I’ve written may be slightly amended later, but the main message is that everything is going well! In fact the doctors say that they can’t really explain the incredible turn-around Sara has had since her initial diagnosis about 1 year ago. I’m sure that a large part of her success is due to her fighting spirit and pro-active attitude regarding chemo, radiation and powering through all of the debilitating side effects. Another significant part is also due to the incredible support she has received from her family and friends, so here’s to sending out a collective “thanks!” to all of you :).

7:40 am – Sara went into surgery this morning. She seemed to be in good spirits. I will update the blog over the day as soon as I have new information!

 

Sara has had some follow-up appointments since the last blog update, but the most important bit of information is that the colon tumor surgery is still scheduled for Tuesday, September 20.

She had a colonoscopy last Friday, and it seems like the colon tumor has shrunk a lot, but the surgeon will still need to biopsy it and confirm whether there are any active cancer cells in the tumor. Sara was hoping that the colostomy might be able to be reversed, but it looks like an intermediate surgery for an ileostomy may take place first. It sounds a bit confusing, but the basic definition for an “ostomy” is :  “Ostomy surgery involves taking a portion of your digestive [or urinary] tract and redirecting it outside of the body.” However there are 4 different types of colostomies alone and any type of ostomy may be temporary or permanent. To complicate things further, the colostomy must have gotten lonely because it has also developed a hernia. Hernia surgery is kind of low on the priority list for now, but it will take place at some point. Basically, the doctor won’t know for sure until she gets inside Sara’s system, but obviously we are hoping for the best possible outcome! So next time you are complaining to yourself about this or that ailment, just remember everything Sara is powering through and trying to maintain a semblance of a normal life…

My 19 year old son and I will be arriving on Sunday. His contribution will be to keep two lively teen/pre-teen boys busy, distracted and active when they aren’t in school, while I help out on the home front and in the hospital (my son is only staying for 5 days since he has to get back to college). I plan to stay until October 3 and hopefully Sara’s recovery in the hospital won’t be as arduous as it was for the January liver surgery, because we have some fun planned for her younger son over the weekend of October 1. Yes, it involves horses 🙂 .

Disclaimer:  The cartoon character is not meant to resemble any specific person, living or otherwise. In fact I have no idea what Sara’s surgeon looks like, but I know the surgeon is female and this clip art rendition looked friendly and competent!