Longest Day of My Life

Hope was wheeled into surgery at 11:30am yesterday. In true Hope fashion she was escorted all the way to the OR by the cutest black lab service dog named, Gerdie. The Chaplain came in and prayed with us, we said our tearful good byes and then waited for 10 long hours for her surgery to be done. 

They updated us every hour but the waiting was pure torture. We sat in her room all day blasting worship music, hanging her get well signs and decorating her room for Christmas. 

At 10pm she was finally wheeled back into her room….extubated. Praise Jesus. She was so afraid of waking up intubated like she was on Saturday after her first surgery. 

The surgeon said the surgery went very good and they got if not all of the tumor at least the vast majority of it.  She still has one tube to drain her spinal fluid (instead of 2).  They don’t expect any issues when she wakes up other than she may not be herself for a little bit because of the manipulation of the brain. There is a titanium plate covering the place where they entered her head so boxing and tackle football will not be in her future…. not that she was planing on either. Ha.  The tumor was soft when they went in for a biopsy but when they went in to remove it, it was as hard as a marble. Because of this it took them much longer than they initially planned. They were able to avoid cutting any of the veins so there wasn’t a risk of stroke but by avoiding the veins it left them with a very tight corridor to work in.  No transfusions were necessary as there was little bleeding.  They were able to clear at least one side of the area where the spinal fluid drains the question is whether or not her body will be able to absorb it, which will determine when she can have the tube removed from her head. She’ll have a MRI in the morning to see if they got all of the tumor.  

Keep praying for our girl and remember….WE HAVE HOPE!