Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Breathe

For the first time in several days, I feel like I can really breathe. I am also feeling major "let down." My body has been in crisis mode for a week straight now and finally we have some answers and they are answers of good news!

The surgeon, Dr. Meyers, "the master," as she is termed around here did a fantastic job on Sirri's surgery yesterday evening. She was able to do the whole procedure with the scope, meaning that Sirri's recovery will be less painful and quicker. The tumor was lying on her esophagus and "attached" to the aorta. Because of the attachment, there was a lot scraping done to remove the tumor that will cause Sirri some extra pain. The tumor (see how I can use that word so frequently now??!?! Aren't you proud? I used to call it a mass, cause that sounded less scary to me!!!) ended up being the size of a small potatoe (larger than originally expected) and is a ganglioneuroplastoma. That means that the cells were, "half chocolate and half vanilla." Of course when we refer to chocolate, we are refering to healthy, non cancerous tissue. (Chocolate could never be the bad guy here.) And so then, the vanilla is canercous tissue. Because she was able to remove the whole tumor, we are NOT going to have to do chemotherapy treatement. That is a big sigh of relief! We have not received the pathology results yet, but the only thing that could change after seeing them, is whether it is probable that this type of tumor will come back or not. Again, the doctor is optimistic that will not be the case.

Sirri is in recovery now and is in quite a lot of pain, but is managing quite well. She has three spots where they used the scope, one incisision being just large enough to remove the tumor. She also has a tube coming out of her chest that is draining fluid. This tube will stay for sevarl days. The doctors have said that incisions in the chest and side like hers tend to be the most tender and painful. She is pretty sedated with morphine and that has helped her to be able to rest. We are having to get her up and moving four times a day. She made it to the bathroom and back this morning and we are proud of her.

My mom has to leave today to go on a cruise with all of her siblings and parents for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. We (especially Sirri) will miss her so much. She has been an absolute life saver. Kendon has to leave today as well to get back to work and more importantly to see the kiddos. I am certainly not ready for either of them to leave but so is life. The bonus is that my sister Cindy is coming this afetrnoon to stay through the weekend. I'm excited about that, and if Sirri coule GET excited, she would too!

We'll continue to send updates. It is kinda nice to give me something to do while Sirri sleeps.

I love you all and again, thank you for all your prayers. Please don't stop praying for us. We aren't totally out of the dark yet, but we can certainly see the light.

As always, if I've left anything out, or you are confused about anything let me know. Sometimes it is hard to write a story as you are living it!

13 comments:

♥Shally said...

Thank goodness!! I have been thinking of you all morning...

Yes, BREATHE!!

Hopefully the worst is over, and it will only get better from now on.

Colleen said...

yeah! i'm so glad the the surgery went well. i've been thinking of sirri all day. i will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. i pray that she just keeps getting better and better. don't forget to take of yourself too. sending sirri an "air hug" and lots of happy thoughts.

Jake said...

Phew! Stuff likes this always reminds me what's really important. But why do we have to remember the hard way?

Thanks for posting in this time of trial...it's really amazing to see how you cope.

Christy said...

I'm so happy to hear the good news!!

Kim said...

HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!! So much good news makes me giddy!

I wish I was coming too...I want to hang with the cool girls and watch movies all day! (and night!)

We LOVE you Sirri and we are praying for a super duper fast recovery!

Jessica said...

Yay yay yay! I am so glad that it's looking so good. Sorry Sirri's in pain...that's so hard to watch as a mom.

But don't you love Primary's? Loved it there (you could go to my blog for why...I posted about it on Monday).

Anyway, you are doing well! You are such a testimony to why we try to live the way we live day after day...so that we can have Peace at times like these!

Stephanie said...

I am so glad you have this blog...

It sounds so selfish but, I am so relieved.

(I can't imagine what you must be going through!!)

our prayers are with you!!

Bridget said...

Yippee!! So glad she doesn't need chemo. I am so happy you guys got some great news. You need a good nap and a massage now.

Arin Rohrbach said...

Thanks for the update. If you need anything, I'm just in Provo.

Jeb and Becca said...

Wow, I feel like I know Sirri through reading your blog stories! What a fighter she seems to be. This has been such a whirlwind for you and your family, I am so glad you caught it when you did. It is amazing how stories like this adds tolerance to the life of a mother...I don't mind my kids driving me crazy, running through my house, and making messes so much...I bet you wish you could have that right now!:)
I am glad to know you will have it back soon, but we will definitely keep you all in our prayers. Thanks for the updates!
Love, Becca

Melissa said...

Lisa~ Thanks for the update! I'm been thinking about you and checking off and on today for an update. I'll continue to pray for you and your family. Hope all continues to go well. Good news is better than no news at all. Hang in there!

Lauren in GA said...

Lisa~Marie, thank you for being such a great example to all of us. I am so glad you have a wonderful doctor. You are so cute...I love how you compared the good cells to being chocolate...Brilliant! :D

I appreciate the update...I will keep checking back. Sorry, she is feeling a lot of pain. I am praying for a speedy recovery :)

D-dawg said...

I'm so relieved they could get it all and everything went well. You sound so positive- I am so amazed by you. Keep us updated and good luck this weekend without Kendon.