Steve, Terry and Chrissy arrived at Cedars at about 6am. they did all the pre-op stuff on Steve and then took him off for surgery. Shortly thereafter Greg, John, Natsuko, and I showed up to wait for word from the Dr. A few hours into the operation the doctor sent work that they had removed most of the tumor and they were working to remove as much as they possibly could. Steve was doing well, but they were not sure how much longer it would take.
The doctor came to the waiting room just after 3pm to let us know that they removed most if not all of the tumor. Steve was in recovery and doing well, and Terry would be able to see him within the hour.
Terry did get to see him a bit later and said that he looked good, and it does not appear that there are any bad side effects from the surgery (vision, speech, etc). The doctor wanted to do a post-op MRI so Steve was whisked off to another part of the hospital.
Later he was admitted to the Neuro Critical Care Unit, but the doctor said that he would most likely be transferred to a regular room tomorrow. He also told them that the new MRI did not show any tumor, so all of the original mass appears to be gone!
We should be able to meet with the doctor to get more detailed information tomorrow, but the surgery went very well and the only side effect Steve notices so far are "floaters" in his right eye. According to the doctor, those will most likely go away.
So, a very good day overall! I will update again when we have all the post-op information from the surgeon.
Lesley
Great news! Glad to hear that the surgery went well. A lot of people are pulling for you, Steve (and against Mr. Tumor ... boooooo) Best wishes for a continued good recovery!
ReplyDeleteI assume the tumor is off to the pathologist's. Will it be used for anything like vaccines?
ReplyDeleteI know regular floaters in eyes gradually get reabsorbed and diminish over time, if I understand our optometrist properly, so I hope that's what will happen for Steve.
How was the waiting? Wi-fi in the waiting room? Room nicer than Kaiser's? Say hI to John and Natsuko for us, please. I would have liked to see them.
Also, how was it for Terry staying with Steve? Allowed to be in Critical Care Unit? Did she have a bed or just a chair?
ReplyDeleteLisa,
ReplyDeleteI assume the tumor is off to be tested. Hopefully we will know more today.
Otherwise, the waiting room was much nicer than Kaiser. We had a large open lobby with a wall of windows and comfortable arm chairs set up in small groups with a table in the middle. Thers was a staffed information desk where the operation and recovery room personnel could call and talk to the waiting relatives/friends. You could also ask questions and they would try and help. They has a coffee/tea self serivce area, and then some vending machines close by. Restrooms were also right there.
When the staff person left at 4:30pm, someone from the recovery department came out and talked to each group of people and gave his contact info and updated the contact info for those still waiting.
They did have free Wi-Fi and of course a cafeteria downstairs. I understand there is a Starbucks located in the hospital, but I did not know this until late in the afternoon.
Terry was not allowed to stay with Steve in the CCU. She went back to the hotel to sleep. Once he is transferred to a regular room she will be allowed to stay. They say they will bring a cot for her.
Lesley