We got to Methodist Hospital at 6:45am this morning and went to Admissions. Apparently, Anne wasn't in the system to be admitted, although she was in there for the procedure. After waiting about an hour, they got things straightened out and she was brought, by escort, to the oncology floor. Nice private room, but fairly small. I wish my patients could have such a room. Mine get a double with not enough room for one bed no less two. And her bathroom was large enough for 4 patients at once (although there was only one potty!)
Her team of doctors came in to introduce themselves. There is an attending "consultant" physician who we met later in the afternoon, a resident, and an oncology fellow. They were both wearing suits. When I was a resident, I wore a scrub shirt, white pants and a long white lab coat--full of plaster. Turns out the fellow is from Edinburgh, like Anne, so they hit it off right away and reminisced about HP sauce, Haggis and Rybena. It was lovely, and picked up her spirits. She was a bit nervous as would be expected. They finally picked her up around 11:30, and I left to get in some lunch. I took a stroll through the gift shop, which would put Stroebels in Saginaw to shame, then went to the family waiting area until she got back at around 3:30 pm. She did incredibly well. I didn't speak to the interventional radiologist, but Anne said he was a bit "older" so "he must have known what he was doing." It's nice to know that just getting older puts you in the category of "knowing what you're doing".
She rested a bit and wasn't allowed to get out of bed until 8:00pm. She did have some soup and juice, but started getting some sharp pains in her right shoulder--referred pain from the liver area. They seemed to get better after she got up and walked around, and went to the potty. The oxycodone didn't hurt either. I left her just about sleeping at 9:00pm and I wound up eating dinner finally in the bar at our hotel. We're hoping she'll be discharged by tomorrow.
They did let us know that we're scheduled to return on December 14th for a CT scan and some other tests, and then she'll have the big surgery--removal of a lot of liver and the colon tumor--on the 18th, so I'm planning on being out here for Christmas. We could be in a lot worse places--think of those poor kids in Iraq and Afganistan for instance. We'll keep praying that God watches over us. A concern would be her getting a cold or the flu which would delay surgery. They're thinking she should get a flu shot, which we were avoiding because of the chemo, but apparently they think it's a good idea out here. They are the experts, so we'll do what they say.
My verse for the day is:
"And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to
him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek
him"
Hebrews 11:6, NLT
Our faith through this journey has only gotten stronger. We have seen with our own eyes and with our own hearts how great is our God. We believe that He has indeed rewarded us with incredible miracles of healing. The oncologists here were amazed at how well Anne responded to the chemo--but she wouldn't have without God intervening for her. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
God Bless,
Tony
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