Surgery day log

Central time

7:40: Karl was taken from his room down to surgery. It was a rough night of preparation work and he was exhausted but ready to go and "get it over with." I told him tons of prayers were going with him today and that he'd be alright. He nodded. After we said our tearful goodbyes, they transferred him to the surgical bed. He was joking with the nurse anesthetist on the way out the door.

9:18: Surgery started.

11:04: The nurse communicator called and said all was going well and Karl's vital signs are good. Dr. Sawyer's team has finished and Dr. Yaszemski's team is now at work.

1:23: The nurse communicator said our vascular guy, Dr. Bower, the one who found Karl's blood clot and is also a cancer survivor, is now working on Karl and clearing a path to minimize bleeding. She said Karl is doing well with the anesthesia and his vitals are strong. I know your prayers are working!

3:10: The vascular surgeon, Dr. Bower, (who has "ice in the veins") is still working on Karl. We knew this part would take awhile. The nurse communicator reported that everything was "going well." Thank God!

4:52: The vascular surgeon is still working on Karl. We had been told that the radiation from Karl's cancer 11 years ago could make some of the tissue "sticky" and therefore take longer to prepare. The nurse communicator said the rumor in the OR is they probably would not take the tumor out today. We had been told there was a good possibility that this would be the case. We should know more at the 7 p.m. update.

7:10: Well, leave it to Karl to have a fly in the ointment. Apparently the tumor is involved a bit more with his bowel and bladder than anticipated, which means the surgeons are being extra careful to free them so the tumor can come out completely encapsulated. According to the nurse communicator, they anticipate having this part done by midnight. We're not sure, but we think they will take out the tumor on Friday. We assume they will keep Karl sleeping until surgery on Friday and we doubt they'll let us see him, just for infection control purposes. But that's purely speculation on our part. We are grateful to be here at Mayo because we know he's getting the best care possible. I'm sorry to be redundant, but keep praying please!

10:57: Just found out they expect surgery to last at least another three hours. Dr. Yaszemski is apparently almost finished with his part and has said he will come up to see us in 30 to 45 minutes.

11:45: Dr. Yaszemski just spoke with us and reassured us that Karl is just fine. We were alarmed about his bowel/bladder issue for nothing. Thank God! They did run in to some "stickiness" from his prior radiation which took Dr. Bower longer than expected. Right now the plastic surgeon is working on Karl and it will take another 3 hours for him to finish. They will keep Karl sleeping until Friday and finish the job of taking out the tumor then. They may also do the reconstructive surgery at that point, depending on how Karl's doing. Dr. Y said Karl is doing just fine and that we should go get some rest. So, that's what we're going to do. We will come back, sometime in the morning, check on Karl and then give you a report. Thanks so much for sharing this experience with us via the blog. It helps to know others are thinking of and praying for us.

Good night and God's peace,

Kerry