A very long day

After nearly 15 hours, Dan came out of surgery last night around 2230.

Dr. Poultsides looked exhausted when he came to talk to us. Apparently, the Whipple part of the surgery was done quickly, but the liver resection became very tricky. The tumors were surrounding major blood vessels in the liver, so the surgeons had to very gently and slowly remove the tumor tissue. Also, the surgeon used radioablation on the margins where he resected to try to kill off remaining unseen tumor cells. He said Dan's liver was very sticky from previous radiation treatment. Thus, the liver resection took 9 hours! Due to the length of time Dan was under general, the surgeon has left the last part of this surgery (ligating the portal vein) to be done a little bit later. Dan doesn't know it yet, but he has another procedure to undergo before he can go home.

The surgeon wants the second surgery to be in 2-3 months, which gives Dan a lot more time to recover. That was a sweet bit of news to hear. Though, he said the next surgery will also take an enormous amount of time. Yet, McGreeky (as I have named him), said Dan got the Cadillac surgery. Lots of time, care and attention. He deserves it!

The entire surgical team was very impressed with how well Dan handled the surgery. His "robustness" required a lot of extra narcotics to keep him sleeping. The anesthesiologist told us that he has never been able to extubate a patient after 15 hours of surgery...but with Dan, he could.

By 2300, Dan was breathing completely on his own. The pharmacy failed to fill the order for the PCA, so Dan was quite upset by the fact that he couldn't push a pain button. However, his first complaint was the oxygen mask...then the NG tube...then his dry mouth...then his 8/10 pain. Only Dan could prioritize his needs like that. Gotta love him.

The nurses allowed us to come back and see him in the ICU. After a day of helplessness, it felt good to be able to DO something. Dan was glad to see me, but far more happy that I could swab his poor mouth with some water. That made him smile a bit. It was terrible to leave him alone in the ICU, but rules are rules. Hopefully, he got some sleep with all of the ICU noise. He has 3 neighbors! Yikes.

McGreeky wants Dan to be walking and using incentive spirometry before he transfer to a med/surg floor. Everyone else thinks that's kinda crazy to expect. Dan's nurse last night said usually whipple patients leave the ICU the day after surgery. I hope so.

Jamie, Mom and I all stayed with the Steins in San Jose. As much as I hate to admit it, I really needed the sleep and the shower. Everyone has been telling me to take care of myself so as to better care for Dan...so, I'm working on it.

Now, the 3 of us are sitting outside of the ICU keeping guard ready to jump the surgeon for information. We can't be in rounds, so McGreeky said he would call my phone (ha maybe). Rather than wait all day for a phone call that might be forgotten, we're gonna try to catch him as he's leaving.

I'll keep updating through out the day.

Prayer Requests:
* Pain management, comfort, alertness for Dan
* Transfer to a normal med/surg unit TODAY so he can begin recovery (ICUs are not good for recovering, walking, etc) (no one except McGreeky thinks he should be in the ICU. Grr)
* Peace and endurance for Jamie and I (and Mom while she's here)
* A quick recovery...far more fast than everyone expects
* No complications: no leaky surgical sites, no infections, no fevers, no pneumonia, nothing that will keep Dan from getting out of the hospital "on time"
* Wisdom and guidance and compassion for the doctors