Update on Mom

I am home from Iowa after a miracle of medicine. My Mom was told a month ago that she has a carcinoid tumor, about the size of a tennis ball, that needed to be removed from her abdomen; near the pancreas & stomach.

After about 12 hours of surgery last Friday the doctor felt that he had completely removed the tumor! YAY! A "Whipple Procedure" was done which removed 1/2 the pancreas, 1/3 of the stomach, and a portion of the small intestine... and that nasty tumor. The doctor (Dr. Howe) who worked on Mom studies this type of tumor & worked especially hard to remove all remnants of this tumor. We're looking forward to the pathology report to see what kind of follow-up treatment he recommends.

Recovery has been tough on Mom. An epidural in her spine has controlled much of her pain, so she hasn't been experiencing much discomfort. However she had 2 days of straight nausea & light-headedness with anxiety & sleeplessness... pure misery! They finally figured out that the epidural was administering too much pain meds! Once this was adjusted on Monday she did a sharp turn toward the better & she's been up walking and eating liquid foods. WOW! How awesome! Today she'll get the epidural & urine catheter removed & we're looking for her to go home early next week, if not sooner.

See what I mean about a miracle of medicine? Now how about the miracle of prayer?

Thanks to EVERYONE who has prayed for this procedure, Mom's recovery & my blessed trip home to be with her. Each day will bring new challenges and soon we'll discover what sort of follow-up treatment the doctor has for Mom. Prayerfully nothing too awful, but exactly what she needs to make any remaining cells non-existent.

Love you Mom!! I'm so glad I got to be with you for that short while.... I wish it was longer. :(