Long And Taxing

This has been such a long and taxing day.

At 7:00am this morning, I was at the hospital. My friend was to have surgery today. But naturally, nothing is ever cut and dry (if you'll pardon the expression.)

A tumor was discovered in her lung 6 months ago. Up until this very moment, they have been unable to determine beyond question, whether or not the tumor is malignant. They "think" it is. They "think" she needed to have this lobectomy. So, with a multitude of comorbidities, some of them very serious, she reluctantly agreed to have this surgery. Most concerning, her decidedly bad risk for anesthesia. It was a very tentative few hours, waiting for her to be taken to the O.R.

This is what the doctor told us this morning: "When I go in there, I'm going to remove the lymph nodes and have them biopsied. If they are malignant, I'm going to close you right back up and we'll treat your cancer the best we can with chemotherapy and radiation. If they are not malignant, I am going to continue on and remove the lung lobe. I am hoping the lymph nodes are negative."

Her surgery was scheduled for 7:30am. There was an in house emergency, and so her procedure was pushed back to noon.

I'm there all this time because I am her healthcare proxy, and health agent. I have to make decisions for her in case she cannot.

At 2:00pm, they came out and told me that the lymph nodes were negative, and they were going to proceed with removing the lung lobe. At 4:00pm they came out and told me that the lobectomy was done, and they were closing her up. No apparent complications.

It's now 4:30 or so, and I'm home with a raging headache, but relieved that my friend will live to cuss out another unsuspecting soul. And even more relieved that I did not have to carry out her wishes to not be kept alive by artificial means.

Praise all that is holy! Thank You!