Update - Post Surgery

Here is a copy of an update that my parents sent out via e-mail. I'll be able to do more when I've had some sleep and time to think/process everything.



Shelly, Mark's oldest daughter, age 7, was given a brief explanation of why her daddy was in the hospital. In her prayer last night she said, "Please bless Daddy not to be scared and please bless the doctors not to mess up too badly." Her prayer was answered, but the prognosis is still discouraging.

Mark was in surgery for about 4 hours. They got most of the cancer, but from the look of it they think he will need radiation and chemo somewhat quickly. Looks don't always tell an accurate story, so we have to wait for the biopsy results, but that first look was not encouraging.

Mark's left side is somewhat affected because the doctor had to get close to something that affects that side during the operation.  When the doctor visited him in his room, after surgery, Mark was able to lift his left arm, put up 2 fingers and somewhat move his left leg - all great signs the doctor said.  Mark was even able to walk to the bathroom today - they don't see patients do that on the first day in the ICU very often.  

Mark is awake, having drugs for the pain, talking, drinking water and apple juice, remembers the Boston bomber's last name and can easily name his kids!!! He even cracks jokes. When told of the doctor's first look, Mark said, "Well, I'm alive today!" to which Rachel responded, "And you'll be alive tomorrow!" I guess that's all we can do, take things one day at a time and be grateful for each one.

There has been LOTS of support from both sides of the family. With Mark in ICU, and well watched over, Rachel is going to go home tonight and get some real sleep - she has only slept 5 hours in the last 48, all in the hospital chair.

Mark will be in ICU for 2-3 days, depending on how he is able to move, walk, and feed himself, then a regular room for 2-3 more days.

Robert & Debbie

Right now, I'm fairly emotionally numb to everything. I consider it a blessing because it allows me to still be able to function (something I'm not sure I could do if I actually sat down and thought about any of this), and I am more able to set myself aside and be who Mark needs me to be right now. I think the hardest part for me at the moment is trying to figure out the balance between who Mark needs me to be and what my kids need me to be, all while still trying to remember what I need for myself. It's quite a balancing act :) I've been pretty much surrounded by family since this all started. Except for overnight, I think I've been alone with Mark for only a few minutes at a time. While we treasure our alone time, this has been mostly a blessing. Having people around keeps me from having time to imagine anything but what is going 'right now.' It's has been a bit hard too, Mark and I miss our time to talk - especially when we was better able too before (his throat is a bit sore post surgery, and he's been relying on the very little sign language he knows to help him not have to talk as much) - but on the whole, family is a very good thing! I would much rather have them here than not.

Hopefully in the next few days as Mark continues to recover more and we learn more about what all this means and how to proceed, life will calm down a bit. I'm fairly confident that he will recover pretty much fully from this round. To me the biggest question is how long will the recovery last, and what happens if/when this comes back?