O.R. # 10, Treat Us Well

First, I want to apologize for the delay in getting this posted. I know that many of you are anxiously awaiting an update. Just so you are no longer in suspense...things are looking great! Also, this post might seem very boring, but I want to get as many details down as I can remember.

We started our day bright and early at 5:00 AM. O.K., bright isn't the right word since it was still pitch black out, but you get the idea. Liz wanted to make sure that her legs were shaved, toe nails polished, etc. She even tried to teach me how to wash and condition her hair so I could do it after we got home. Did you know that you don't use conditioner on all of your hair like shampoo? Seriously, who knew?!?! She also tried to teach me how to shave her legs, but I told her that she was going to have enough cuts and scares after today and that there was no reason to add any more.

We got to the hospital at 6:30 AM, and Liz was taken back almost immediately. Nona, Liz's mom, joined me in the waiting room at 6:45 AM. While we waited to be able to go back and be with Liz, our under cover agent snuck out and gave us a status report. Dr. Nick, surgeon and friend extrodinare, had a surgery here this morning. Before his surgery, he tracked Liz down to make sure that she was doing well.

Finally around 7:30 AM, Nona and I were allowed to see Liz. In typical Liz fashion, she was keeping the medical staff entertained in back. We didn't get to spend too much time with her though, as she still had to go for her sentinel node biopsy. I will let Liz fill you in on the details of this, because is wasn't actually a biopsy - just an injection of dye and the insertion of a guide wire for the surgeon.

Once Liz was taken to Radiology, Nona and I staked out a corner of the waiting room. We were sitting there for about 45 minutes when Liz came walking around the corner. Apparently the individual tasked with taking her from Radiology to Prep-Op didn't know where she was going, and got a little lost. Don't worry though, Liz didn't use that as an opportunity to bust out of the hospital and jump in a taxi.

After getting her back to Pre-Op, her doctors showed up to discuss the the day. All in all, 7 different professionals came in and examined her, wrote on her body, asked her for her name and date of birth, or did something else that was in preparation for the surgery. During one of the lulls between docs, the three of us said some prayers. While both Nona and I were sheeding tears, Liz remained strong and stoic. She is a rock!

Shortly after 9:30, they came to take her to surgery. Right before they were ready to wheel Liz out of the room, the nurse anesthetist asked Liz the age of our kids. She started to answer and then stopped, looked at the anesthetist, and said, "Did you just slip me something?" He smiled, and said that he did in fact give her something to relax when she wasn't looking. Her response, "Nicely done Matt. That was very sneaky." Cracking jokes until the very end - awesome. It was at that point that they wheeled Elizabeth to Operating Room #10. The time was 9:45 AM.

At 10:30, the volunteer in the Surgical lobby came over to inform us that surgery officially began 10:15 AM. It was at about this time that our first visitor showed up - our neighbor Jim! Jim sat with us for a little over an hour. Then around 10:45, Sister Mary Denise from Vis showed up (she is still with us now, praying, laughing, and pretty much anything to keep us distracted).

Nick found us around 11:30 to let us know that Liz was doing fine. A little over an hour later we got out first great news of the day. Dr. Schmidt came out to tell us that the mastectomy went wonderfully. The sentinel node came back negative, which was awesome, and according to the pathology reports, everything else was looking good. To celebrate the clean node and success of the first phase, Nick took me out for a beer and lunch! Thanks again Nick!

Upon getting back from lunch, Nick checked in on Liz again for us. The plastic surgeons where just completing the portion of the surgery where they move the skin and muscle from Liz's back to her front. The plastic surgeons told Nick that things were going wonderfully.

I have to say that while we are not done yet, it feels like a weight has been lifted off our chests. Keep up the prayers people, we are almost there!