Surgery Update

This has been a LONG Day! I so appreciate all of the prayers. I was at peace for most of the day and even when I started to get impatient, I still felt peaceful. I finally spoke to the surgeon at 6:15 this evening. In his words, the surgery could not have gone any better. He was able to remove the whole tumor as well as the surrounding lymph nodes and arteries. There was a bit of inflammation above the tumor, but he removed that as well. In all he took right at a foot of colon. We still need to wait on the pathology on the lymph nodes, but the biggest surprise is that he was able to complete the surgery without the need for Bruce to have a temporary Ileostomy. When we saw him last week he was pretty adamant that an ostomy would be necessary in order to allow Bruce's colon to heal. He was thrilled that when he attached the remaining colon to the rectum the tissue looked much better than expected. He ran some tests and felt confident that it would heal without the need for the ostomy. I have not spoken to Bruce, but I know he is happy. He was most concerned about the need for a second surgery to reverse the ostomy in a few months. All in all this is the best possible outcome thus far. Please continue to lift us up as Bruce still has a long recovery ahead and specific prayers for the Lymph Nodes to show no cancer.

Ali