Exhaling

It's 9 PM and as I sit here beside my husband, who is hooked up to countless wires and tubes, I am once again reminded how fragile this thing we call "LIFE" can really be. We are at M D Anderson Hospital in Orlando and Bob's surgery is now over, we are finally in a room, and the nurse is checking his vitals.

The Dr WAS able to do laparoscopic surgery, which is a good thing. It's less invasive, less recovery time, less pain and bleeding, and just easier on the patient. There is only one machine in this area, or so the Dr made it sound, and so it had to be scheduled. Our time was 1:00. He went in at 1:08 and came out around 5:30. Like the "SS Minnow" it was supposed to have lasted 3 hrs, but it took a little longer.

I talked with the dr for about 20-30 minutes and he assured me that it was a "textbook" operation. Everything went "perfectly", there was minimal blood loss and the cancer was contained. He did send some nodes to the lab for biopsies, just to be safe, but he said it was only standard procedure and anticipated nothing cancerous. What a relief.

THIS IS THE WAITING ROOM, WHERE I SPENT MOST OF THE DAY.

And to all my friends and prayer partners, I say thanks. Bob has never had nor does he know what to think at times with all the support I have in my life. Vicki and Liz (the other 2 stooges) came over and spent the day with me. Vicki's father just had emergency open heart surgery at ORMC, where we had Bob's surgery, and "Billy" is on the 7th floor, so it was a two-fold visit, but they spent most of the day with me in the 4th floor waiting room. (That is another blog experience) Since Bob's surgery involved cancer, they moved him into the next building (M D Anderson section) which is the hospital that works with cancer patients. We are in a "Hospital Suite" which to me is an oxymoron but it is more spacious than a regular room, it is private, and I get to stay with him tonight. They even have a Murphy bed for me to use.

I HAVE decided one thing-It's much easier being the patient than being the "Waitee." Next time, I'm having the surgery, not matter what!