Surgery day, SURGERY COMPLETE

8:23 a.m. And so it has begun. Vic went back to the surgery suite at 8:07. Interestingly, they originally said 10 hours, and then this morning Dr. Song said 8 hours, but then Dr. Goddard said 13 hours. So … yeah, I don’t know. They’ll call throughout the day. Watch this space for more!

8:28 a.m. OK, I just got this video from Roxie, my friend Jason's dog, and everyone needs to see it. Turn the sound on and be prepared to laugh until you cry (because you are laughing so hard).

10:14 a.m. Just got a call from the nurse. Surgery started around 9:30. I would have thought it would have started closer to 8:07, but what do I know? FYI, the 8-, 10-, 13-hour estimates were all "door-to-door," so we don't have to restart the timing clock. the 8, 10 or 13 hours started at 8:07. :-)

11:33: No real update, but I'm getting more of these talking animal videos, so I can't help but add them here:

Jasper

Porter

And apparently, you should never, NEVER leave your phone unattended around your dog, or he might make you a talking pet.

Porter's mom (my cousin Kim)

12:26: Dr. Song has finished his surgery and came to give me the "halftime" report.

TL;DR: Cancer removal is done; the margins are negative (meaning: no more cancer). Reconstruction surgery is starting. Expected finish time: 5 p.m. For those of you who have been mothering me, I am now going to go have lunch.

Full halftime report:

• He decided to just do a full-on hemiglossectomy (removal of half the tongue) rather than taking a bit at a time and checking the margins, taking a bit more if needed and checking the margins, taking a bit more if needed and checking the margins. He made this decision because follow-up radiation really wasn't an option, so he really wanted to get all of the cancer. He then sent the tissue to pathology, and the margins are negative. Repeat: The margins are negative. That means he got all the cancer. YIPPEE!
• He saved as much of the back of the tongue as possible—but Vic will need some swallowing therapy.
• He took lymph nodes on the right and a little on the left, but with the scar tissue from his previous radiation, doing anything more would have been difficult. Since there was no indication of any cancer in the lymph nodes, he feels he got as much as he needed.
• They did put in a trach tube. Look it up—it's not pleasant. And although we knew it was coming, Vic won't like it.
• There is a tiny bit of nerve damage to his lip, so he may have an asymmetrical smile. You know he will milk that as if he only had just the one kidney.
• He was having a lot of pain from his feeding tube procedure on Tuesday, but Dr. Song said it looked healthy. The pain might have come from ... you guessed it, the scar tissue from Vic's previous cancer experience.

Although we were hoping for less than a hemiglossectomy, nothing here was unexpected, Dr. Song finished early and said everything went well and Vic was doing great, and THE MARGINS ARE NEGATIVE, in case you missed that above. He expects the whole thing to be done by 5 p.m.

A few minutes after Dr. Song finished his halftime report, the nurse called from the OR to let me know everything was going fine and they were moving forward. (They're supposed to call every two hours, which is a nice benefit.)

Here's another talking dog from my (step)sister Kay to carry you over until the next update.

3:36: The nurse called from the OR to let me know everything was still going fine. On my way to the bathroom, I ran into the director of anesthesia, who has been doing Vic's anesthesia all day. She said he was doing great—and in particular, she said "I can tell he's strong." Vic is so strong that he radiates strength when he is under sedation. Not a surprise to anyone who knows him, right?

In the meantime, some of you mothering types have asked if I'm all alone in the big, scary waiting room. No, I am not. I am with my sisters. Please pay particular attention to our shirts, which we got specifically for today. I hope the next update is "surgery complete."

5:37 p.m. Dr. Goddard just came out of the OR with the final surgical update!

TL;DR: Everything went well (Dr. Goddard: "I couldn't have asked it to go better"), Vic is in the ICU and responsive, and we are in the waiting room waiting to be told we can see him.

Full postop report:

• Everything went well. Dr. Goddard was able to do her Plan A and didn't have to alter her course for any reason whatsoever.
• Vic is awake and responsive (he does things he is asked to do, like open his mouth—I wonder how long it will be before he will do things that I ask him to do), but loopy—one of the lesser-known dwarves—and sleepy.
• He has a vacuum dressing on his arm, plus a drain.
• He has two drains in his neck.
• I said, "Ew, that's a lot of drains," and Dr. Goddard said, "Actually, that's fewer than normal." Once again proving that Vic recovers strong!
• He has lots of sutures, bandages, staples, etc.
• Says Dr. Goddard: I couldn't have asked for it to go better.
• The waiting room crew has moved from the surgical waiting room to the ICU waiting room. We should be able to see Vic in an hour or so. Yippee!

I may send one more update tonight—but don't wait up for it.

Thanks for all those jokes, memes, texts, videos, comments on the blog, comments on Facebook, thoughts, prayers, healing energy, light and love. THEY WORKED!