Surgery update

Daddy's surgery could not have gone better. The doctor came out while most of us were in the cafeteria, but Julie and her Auntie Gail (from her and Joe's Dad's side, many of you remember Dale I'm sure) were the only ones in the surgery waiting area. That's okay, Julie's face when she came running down to the cafeteria to all of us said it all. The doctor said it went "as smooth as silk" and that he safely removed about 90% of the mass he could get to. We originally thought he might only get 70% at best, and we discussed the philosophy of conservative removal to preserve Daddy's functions.

There was no bleeding and no swelling, and the likelihood of this happening was high. But with each hour that goes by and it doesn't happen, the threat is diminished. When Mary Anne went into his room (about an hour after he came out of surgery) she asked him "Daddy, do you know my name?" He looked straight at her and said MARY ANNE. When I went in I said "so was that a load off your mind?" (this was a running joke from yesterday). He smiled and said "yeah, load off my mind". Talking, smiling, remembering yesterdays jokes, moving all of his limbs without jerking, it's all pointing to a good outcome. He remembered the ice cream he had last night. He smiled at Mary Anne when she told him that she had taken his dirty socks off his feet last night (before surgery) and gave one to each of his dogs, who prompty buried their faces in them.

We know this is a one-day-at-a-time thing, and there are a lot of unknowns in front of us. We're just thankful that Daddy is strong and seems to have the fighting spirit he's going to need to withstand the treatments he has coming up. I'm sure part of it is the EXTREME outpouring of love and support from all of you. It's amazing how many lives he's touched, music friends, school friends, family close and far, neighbors, childhood friends, they are all there for him. We are thankful for everyone.
Terri