A quiet day

A text from Dad at 7:00 p.m.:

"A pretty quiet day. Mom's still doing well.  Dr...said she is the rock star of the ICU!"

Good morning

For those of you who are not on Facebook, here is an update that was posted by my aunt late last night:

"Suzi is totally amazing, the drs wanted her to take it easy and rest today.  Not even a full post surgery day and she is sitting up in a chair.  It wore her out getting into the chair, but it didn't discourage or stop her.  They are concerned about the bone graft because of the radiation treatments from the first round, so please pray that it will heal with no complications.  We have been blessed to see small miracles and prayers answered.  Thank you all for your kindness, love, support and encouragement through this ordeal...they are greatly appreciated."

And, I received this message from Dad this morning:

"Morning update.  Nothing much to report.  Mom had a good night, except "they keep waking me up."  Still considerable pain in her leg.  She's sitting up watching TV."

Up to the challenge

A text received from Dad at 7:23 p.m.

"Last update (probably) for tonite.  It's been a quiet day, mostly rest.  Mom sat in a chair twice.  It's an effort and a challenge, but you know how Mom feels about challenges.  I read from the blog (and Facebook) and she was touched, as was I.  She asked for her notepad and wrote, Makes me feel loved.  Thank you everyone for everything."

Goodnight everyone.  Good luck as we all face our own daily challenges.

Sarah

The simple things

I was sitting at the park eating lunch with my kids.  I needed to get some fresh air and try to release a little bit of stress.  They needed to run.

Dad sent me a text: "Mom's sitting up in a chair."

For a brief moment, I realized how much of life I take for granted.  Simple tasks like sitting up in a chair or swallowing my food or speaking to my children go unnoticed and unappreciated every day.  And yet, how profoundly grateful I am that my mom is sitting in a chair, speaking.

I am grateful for the gift of life and especially that life is shared and people love and are loved.  Keep up the good work, Mom!

The morning after

I received this text from Dad shortly after 8:00 in the morning.

"Good morning!  Mom is looking good.  She can talk.  All her vital signs are good.  They want her to mostly rest today but if she feels up to it maybe do some walking or sitting in a chair."

I'm so excited she is up, talking, and looking good before 8:00 a.m.!  That would be asking a lot of me on a regular morning, I can't imagine how difficult it would be after such an intense surgery.  Go, Mom!

Prayers work, miracles happen.  She will probably be home in a week.  I would love to have a wall and a half covered with hearts; keep 'em coming!

--Sarah

She is out.

I just received this text from Dad: "We're waiting for Mom to be moved to special care and we can see her.  Can't wait!"

I don't know what else to say.  I am relieved she made it through.  She still has a long road ahead.  

Your prayers have been felt and that is a beautiful feeling.  Thank you for your love and compassion.

7:30 p.m. Update

They are closing up now.  Here is the text from Dad: "Just closing up.  Everything went well.  Dr. Said about an hour. He wants to talk with us.  Your Mom is amazing!"

Yes, she is!

I have been asked if it was just one surgeon working on her the whole time.  So, for those wondering, it was two separate surgeons, one for the maxillectomy (the removal of her jaw bone) and one for the bone graft.  Still, those are two major surgeries and I am grateful for the hard work of the surgeons and their teams.  

5:50 p.m.

They are still working on the veins in her neck and the bone graft.  She is doing well.  It will probably be 2 more more hours.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.  There is no way to express how much it helps.

Love, Sarah

3:25

They have finished the maxillectomy, things went well.  Now working on bone graft.

Update at 1:10 p.m.

Working on neck to accept bone graft.  Results not back for clean margins.

Surgery updates

She went into surgery at about 7:30 a.m.  She was in good spirits.

At 11:38 a.m. I received this update from Dad:  "Mom's doing well.  They're sending samples to make sure they have clean margins.  Ten hours to go.  Keep us in your prayers."

Thank you all for your support and love.  I will be updating this blog and Facebook as I get more information.

Details of the surgery

For those who don't know the details of Mom's surgery today, here is my basic knowledge:

They will be removing the part of her jaw and upper palate that has the cancer in it.  They will also be reconstructing her jaw and palate during the same surgery using a bone from one of her lower legs.  They will also take a skin graft from her lower leg to reconstruct her palate and they will take a skin graft from her upper thigh to cover the skin graft on the lower leg.  The surgery is complicated and will take about 14 hours.

She will be in the hospital recovering for at least a week.  She will need to learn how to swallow again and won't be able to leave the hospital until she is able to swallow.