Surgeries

My brother JIM was "under the knife" for almost ten hours yesterday. Surgery began around 12:30 pm and lasted over seven and a half hours. It was a very difficult operation and the tumour was removed along with a few lymph nodes from inside his esophagus, and sent for a pathology report. Major reconstruction was done to re-attach his significantly diminished esophagus and stomach. The whole precariousness of Jim's situation caused the doctor to caution Kim and Barb that some complications could arise.

As they were awaiting clearance for Jim to leave the operating room, his anesthesiologist became alarmed that Jim's blood pressure and hemoglobin were going down rapidly and determined that there must be some bleeding internally. Instead of opening him up again, they went in laparoscopically and discovered that one of the arteries that had been clamped shut with staples to prevent bleeding hadn't successfully blocked the artery. Apparently this happens very rarely.

It took quite a while to correct this problem and clean the blood up that had accumulated. So Kim and Barb had to wait for over two hours before getting word that the problem had been discovered and rectified. They decided at that point to go home and get some much-needed sleep rather than waiting another couple of hours to see Jim, knowing too that he would be totally unaware of their presence anyway!!

When Kim and Barb saw Jim this afternoon, they were surprised that he looked as well as he did following his gruelling surgery. He's getting morphine intravenously for the pain, however it has made him quite nauseous, so they've added another drug to deal with that.

Thank you SO much for your prayers. Keep lifting Jim up as he begins the long road to recovery. He will be in Intensive Care for a couple of days followed by another ten days to two weeks' hospital stay. These will be long and tiring days for Kim and Barb in particular as they plan to be at the hospital for many hours in the upcoming days.

This is a hard time for Dad and Mom, as they are not able to be with Jim. My two cousins who have been visiting Bob and me for five days, just flew down to Palm Springs this afternoon to spend six days there. They will be a huge encouragement to my folks. Again, we are totally in awe of God's timing in all of this, since Sharon and Marilyn planned this trip long before Jim knew he even had cancer!!

Just take a look at these two wonderful gals and you will know what joy they will bring to Mom and Dad!! Sharon, Marilyn, and I went over to Victoria on Sunday, and we went to The Empress for "high tea" and had a wonderful time on the island for two days.

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BOB's surgical procedure to insert a "fistula" into his arm was postponed because of an overload of elective surgeries at the hospital today. It will be re-scheduled sometime in the next week or two. He'll have his final round of chemo the next two Fridays, and will be off chemo indefinitely, unless tests indicate an increase in the size of the tumour. He really is feeling quite well, except for being tired, and we are SO grateful to the Lord.

Here's proof positive that whether you eat "high tea" at a classy hotel like the Empress, or share a "White Spot" burger with a loved one on dialysis, it can be an enjoyable experience!!

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Our daughter-in-love KIM will have her second surgery for breast cancer tomorrow morning in Regina. Some lymph nodes will be removed under her left arm. Although this is just a day surgery, it is still quite traumatic and could result in some challenging side-effects. It has been SO encouraging to see both Kim and Tim grow in their faith and trust in God through these difficult days.

I'll be flying to Regina in the morning for six days--helping Tim and Kim with the children, giving lots of hugs, and doing anything I can to ease their load. Barbie had her 40th birthday today, so we'll celebrate it together after Kim's surgery.

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All of us are learning to lean more heavily on the Lord and one another and finding Him to be more faithful and true than we'd ever imagined. Thanks for your part in accessing God's peace, strength, perspective, and healing on our behalf.