August 21, 2009

I am so sorry we left so many of you hanging on the edge of your seat waiting to hear how everything went. I have to say that Super G handled it very well and he is resting comfortably. He has handled everything so well that the doctors and nurses are referring to him as the little rock star.

Yesterday morning nurse "C" had a big job getting all of Gabe's "components" untangled and set up for the move down to the operating room. It was like watching one of those shows were they move a house from one location to another. Very impressive. Shannon and I can't even begin to explain how nervous we were, our stomachs were in knots to say the least. I found myself pacing back and forth around Gabe's bed while they were getting ready. Finally, a little before 12 p.m. the anesthesiologist and surgeon came to get Gabe. Suddenly we had all of these doctors and nurses come from everywhere to tell the surgical team how to care for Gabe. One doctor even said that if anything went wrong, the surgeon was in big trouble. Nurse "C" was on the surgical team like white on rice. She was telling them about all Gabe's little quirks and how he works. You could tell the surgical team was a little annoyed by all these people telling them how to do their jobs. It's just amazing to see how many people take Gabe's care so personally. It's like having extra moms and dads with Gabe everyday looking out for him.
At about 12 pm we wheeled Gabe down to the "special" elevator for the ride down to the operating room. At the bottom we gave Gabe a kiss and parted ways. Even our nurse "C" went down with us and you could tell she was a little nervous about the surgery.

The next four hours seemed to the longest of my life. Shannon and I tried to eat, but that didn't make the knots in our stomachs feel any better. We then sat outside for what seemed like an eternity At one point I told Shannon that my watch was broken and wasn't working right because only five minutes pass every time I look at it after what seemed like an hour. Finally they came out and told us that Gabe was out of surgery and headed back up to his room. They said that he did very well and that he was stable. The broviac catheter was successfully placed in his chest. The biopsy took a little longer than expected, the first two samples didn't work and they finally got a good sample on the third try. Under a microscope in the operating room, the pathologist said that what he was looking at didn't look like a cancerous tumor. Which is great news, but we don't want to get too excited because they said it will take a few days to get the final word. They did say that we could have a preliminary report by today. Otherwise it won't be until after the weekend.

Once we got back up to the room Gabe was lying peacefully sedated and sporting a new cool scar he can impress all the girls with later. Nurse "C" and the team were working like a Nascar pit crew putting Gabe's "components" back together and getting him all cleaned up. We didn't want to get too close for fear of interfering with the pit crew or getting hit by the flying equipment. The surgeon and anesthesiologist went over to nurse "C" and said that she was totally right about all the things she had warned them about. She told them that she tried to warn them and they should have listened.

We are now waiting with much anticipation for what they will tell us about the tumors and will update you a little sooner this time. Keep praying for little man and I will post up soon as we hear more.