Saturday...Post-Op Day 1

Here we are. Surgery is over and we got the best news possible. Dr. Clary pulled us all into a conference room when the surgery was complete and told us they were able to remove the tumor (they think all of it) and didn't see any evidence of spread anywhere. We still don't know if the tumor is benign or malignant, and won't know until the pathology comes back. Dr. Clary said he does feel it is malignant because of the size and characteristics of the tumor, but again, we won't know for sure until sometime next week. The surgery took about 6 hours and Austin did wonderful. Dr. Clary said from a technical aspect things could not have gone any better. He didn't lose a lot of blood and did not require a blood transfusion. They removed the entire left lobe of his liver, part of the right lobe, the tumor, and his gallbladder. They said it weighed about 8-10 pounds!! He has a very large abdominal incision, which was expected. He also has a JP drain (drains the fluid left in his abdomen after surgery), NG tube (tube in his nose that drains his stomach contents) central line (big IV in one of his main veins) 2 peripheral IV's, a foley catheter and is hooked up to all the monitors. He is such a trooper! I feel SO proud of him. 


Today is Post-Op day 1 and Austin is doing fantastic. Right where he should be. He is of course sore, but his pain is well controlled with IV pain meds. His blood levels and labs all look stable. We have lots of family here supporting us. Austin's family is here and mine is too, I am very thankful for all of them. 


As for me, I am doing great. I am just overwhelmed with happiness from the report we got yesterday. This has been such a whirlwind and I was really beginning to feel like I couldn't take much more bad news. Our prayers were answered! God is so good! 


We have had so much love and support...sometimes through complete strangers. There is so much good in this world. This experience has already taught me so much. Life is too short and the little bumps in life...they really just don't matter. 


I am one happy girl and happy to be sitting next to my sweet husband listening to him snore! 


The picture on the left is right after surgery, while he was in the recovery room. The picture on the right is just 24 hours later! Making major progress Mr. Green!!! :)