Surgery Day - December 23, 2009

Pete, Gina (my daughter, visiting from California for the holiday) and I arrived right on time to the surgery suite at 6:15 AM. Pete was quickly taken away and a short time later the nurse came and escorted me and Pete's father (my ex) into the pre-surgery area. Pete was all hooked up to the IV and the nurse was completing all the paperwork. First we were met with one anesthesiologist, and then a second joined him. They explained how the anesthesia would be administered and advised us of the risks. Pre-op preparation, they told us, would take about an hour and a half. (I guess I wasn't thinking at the time exactly what that meant and why it would take that long, but as soon as I saw Pete post-surgery I understood.)

A few minutes after they left, the surgeon (Dr. E) came in. He discussed the procedure, its risks and the basic plan of "attack", just as he had on Monday when Pete and I had met with him in his office. I asked about the length of the surgery and the doctor replied that it was a long one and should take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours.

By this time it was just about 7:20. Two men and a woman, who identified herself as one of Pete's surgical nurses, came in and offered to have us follow them down the hall as they wheeled Pete off to the operating room so we could wish him well and then go back into the waiting room.

We had no news until after 12:30 when the nurse came in to say that he was out of surgery and that the doctor would be in to speak with us soon. About 15-20 minutes later Dr. E came in and called us into a small private room, just big enough to hold the 4 chairs and one small end table that were crowded in there.

He said that the surgery went pretty much as he had expected, but I was disturbed by the feeling that I was getting from the tone of his voice and his general demeanor. He was concerned that the tumor was attached to the wall, I think he actually said "invaded" the wall, of the main blood vessel for the brain. He said that he could not take any wider margin in that area for fear of damaging that supply and that there may still be some cancer cells that were left behind.

I asked him about the directed radiation therapy he and the oncologist had mentioned to us and his reply was that those decisions were best left to the radiation oncologists.

We waited some time before we actually got to see Pete when they moved him from recovery to ICU. I mentioned earlier about the long time for the pre-op prep, but when I saw several small holes located very symmetrically around his skull it dawned on me that the doctor had explained that this surgery was computer guided by the 3D MRI done the day before. Obviously, they had to secure Pete's head so that it could not move even a hair's breadth so that the surgery could be as precise as possible.

We visited for a brief time. He was thirsty and was complaining of a very bad headache. They administered a shot of morphine, and then a short time later a second shot. We left, hopefully the pain began to subside some, and came home because there is a break in the visiting hours between 6:30 -8:30 PM.

It's just about 8 PM now, and it's 1/2 hr drive to the hospital. I'm leaving to go up with Bruce (my husband) to spend a few minutes with him this evening.

There will be another MRI of the brain tomorrow.