and came out fine!! we are in Tulsa, OK at the Cancer Treatment Center of America, and this afternoon the Doctor took out her cancerous thyroid.

heather went in for preop at 10am this morning. they got her dressed in the hospital gown, etc, and then let us go back with her. we were able to stay with her til they rolled her into surgery. it was about 11:30 when they were ready to start. we said goodbye, gave her hugs and kisses, and they wheeled her back. they said they would call about every hour with an update. (there is a phone in the waiting area for family and caregivers)

it was two hours until the first update, but they said everything was going well. her vitals were all strong and she was doing fine. so, we decided to go eat some lunch at the cafe in the Center.

another call at 2:30 said she was still doing great, it would most likely be just about another hour in surgery. after surgery we'd be able to go in to see heather two at a time.

we talked with the surgeon about 4:30pm. he had just finished her surgery. (FIVE HOURS!!!) the thyroid is all out and she is doing well. the surgery took longer on the right side as the thyroid was particulary enlarged there and he had to dissect it millimeter by millimeter. there were a couple lymph nodes on the right side that were swollen and slightly firm. he said it's quite possible the tumor had spread (or begun to spread) to those lymph nodes, so he took those out as well. he wanted to be sure he got everything. the tumor was directly on the right nerve supplying the vocal cords. when he showed us he pressed his thumb and forefinger together and said "it was like this on the nerve." he had to "tease" the nerve away from the tumor with a small instrument-- but both vocal cord nerves remained intact.

she is ok. she came through the procedure fine, and is so much better off now than she was yesterday.

thank you to everyone who kept her in your prayers. i'm so relieved, i think i'll sleep very good tonight! (last night i kept having dreams of people dying in surgery. one was a guy who in my dream had been stabbed in the throat . . .)

good night all, and i'll see you tomorrow!

Wishing your sister a healthy and speedy recovery, hun...

very good news!

Great to hear.

Thats great!

You have me in tears... Praise be to God... I am thankful for the skilled hands of a surgeon!!!!!

THANK GOD!

This is wonderful news!!!!!

Get some rest, hon...your sister will be awake tomorrow

YAY!!!!

that's beautiful news!
life can b so nice

my thoughts are with u and your sister

I've been praying for you both and am so glad to hear the great news! I've been there and know what troubles the anxiety leading up to and the day of the surgery can do- I'm so thrilled this has passed! I'll continue to pray for you two!

Happy Days! Love ya!

thank you all so much. i just had to check in quickly before i head to bed to say thank you all again. this is such a wonderful place...

hooray!!!!

yay

i am soooo glad to hear this... i know it will be a tremendous weight off of you fantasy
you will both continue to be in my thoughts

as it happens someone else made it through major surgery today
i'm with muse...blessed be the hands of a surgeon!

This is such good news! Go sis!!!!

So good to hear.

Hallelujah

Good to hear ! I hope all will be fine.

Very glad about that. Great news to read

Even though you have no idea who I am, send her my love

Love M

IrresistibleB1tch said:

Co-sign.

Good luck to your sis, Hil.

Thats excellent fantasyislander!

My Dad beat Cancer, and my Aunt who had it 2 years ago beat it too, and I know what you must have been going through, the worry and heartache, but I am so happy it all went well!

I hope she makes a speedy recovery

fantastic news! so fast too!

AlfofMelmak said:

thank you again for your help with everything.

thank you to everyone who offered their love and support.

muse, emm, predom, aksel, herman, phil . . . you are all close to my heart. thank you so much.



and thank you again to everyone here. knowing that you are all happy for me and my family makes this even better.

i know heather still has a tough time ahead of her. this is by no means the end of it all. she'll go through a month of hell now as her body is starved of the thyroid hormone in preparation for her radioactive iodine treatment. but (hopefully) the cancer is gone!!

Glad to hear the surgery went well, and hoping that your sister makes a speedy recovery.

Soooo glad to hear that all went well. We will all be prayer for a speedy healthy recovery. You both are very lucky to have one another (only child- can you tell..)