Medical stuff

Hello everyone,

Sam had her scheduled ostomy/intestinal surgery done Wednesday. If all was perfect it was to start at 7:30 am and take about an hour. Well she finally got into the operating room at about 1:30 pm and the surgery lasted until about 6:30 pm. It appears at this point everything was a success. We will know for sure once they start letting her eat again.
There were several reasons why the surgery took so long. One was kind of expected. The doctor had hoped to reroute and do the delicate reconnections to her intestines through her ostomy (one of the opening in her abdomen). Unfortunately that did not work out and he had to open Sam all the way back up again to do it. It turned into another major operation, not the little one Sam mentioned in her video blog. This turned out to be a good thing because once inside he found a few potential problems with a section of the intestines (being narrow and twisted). He bypassed and removed the problem area. Also while in there he noticed an enlarged lymph node which he also removed. If it turns out it was enlarged due to cancer, it’s good that it was found and removed. If the biopsy on it turns out to be negative, that’s even better news. The concern now is controlling the expected infections you get after this type of surgery. Sam will be in the hospitalized while recovering and dealing with the infections while also making sure there are no new problems or complications from the new pipe work (obstructions, leaks, bad sense of direction etc.) Also interesting to note, the illostomy opening in her abdomen they do not sew shut. Because of the 100% chance of infection they leave it open and exposed so they can treat it as it heals. I know how weird this all must sound to some of you, but it is what it is. Hope it's not TMI.

This major surgery was a set back and really sad to us since Sam had finally had started to feel better having good days where she could move around, and started being herself again. Dolly and I were just getting to a point where we could start trading off time with Sam and being back at home taking care of everything that’s needed there. You know- kids, house, things like taxes, the dog's mess…

As for what’s next, we're still working on it. We know Sam will have to have a follow-up cancer treatment once she's strong enough. We still don’t know where and what kind of treatment that will be. The doctors are working on those plans. If they decide Sam should be treated before she is physically able to fly home then we will start the process here. If not, we hope to be home next month. However, besides arranging for cancer doctors back home we are still looking for doctors back home who are willing to work with the Miami team and are able to perform the specialized transplant procedures Sam needs. One of her doctors here keeps telling us to keep a plane ticket in our pocket if we go home this soon. At the same time they realize that mentally it would be better for her to be healing back home.

Also it was mentioned that some of the blog hasn't been posting properly since Sam's Christmas one. Sorry for the scare. I’m at a lost as to why.

Thank you everyone for giving us this opportunity with Dr. Tzakis and his team. Also a special thanks to everyone at Highland Park for giving me the needed time to be here longer then I’d planned with Sam, but it is where I belong.

Lots of Love,
Chris