Surgery day recap

If you've followed the "tweets" today, you have a pretty good idea of how things went. In a word (or a couple): it went swimmingly. The big news of the day was that the sentinel node was negative. The doctors both said that the surgery went quite well. The only potential issue is that there wasn't a lot space available for the expander (or skin to cover it), so the sutures are tight right now. Hopefully the skin will adapt over time and the reconstruction can proceed (whenever the next stage begins) as planned.

I am pleased and content with the care Sherrie is receiving at the hospital. People were kind to us and thoughtful about our tender state. It is a great and wonderful blessing to be able to receive such excellent medical care.

I left Sherrie at the hospital around 8:00 PM tonight, in a semi-conscious state between sleep and full cogency (if I can use that word). To my astonishment, she called around 9:00, sounding quite alert, to check to see if I had arrived safely and how things were going at home. She reported that she had thrown up her post-operation apple juice/ice water cocktail, but the nurses weren't overly concerned and had given her some more anti-nausea meds. As you might expect, she was concerned about her family and wanted to know how each was doing. She had yet to stand up, but that was coming soon, as she needed to respond to the call of nature ;-)

She will come home tomorrow, assuming that she shows no signs of trouble and has moved smoothly from IV pain killer to pain pills. I presume that sometime late in the morning they will discharge her, but we shall see.

Thanks so much to the many people who followed our progress today and provided words of love and encouragement. We are so grateful to have family and friends who love and support us such as you do.

And special thanks to the many people who have supported us with acts of faith, including fasting and prayer, on our behalf. We are humbled and grateful to receive such tender mercies.