Hey y'all! It's Caroline again, here with a great update about Mom's surgery. Her numbers were good enough for the surgery... and it was a total success! Her doctors found what they'd expected to find, which was cancer along parts of her intestines, and they were able to remove it all successfully and didn't see any other areas of disease. (For those who have been following Mom's journey since she was initially diagnosed over two years ago, you know just exactly how exciting that is; since Mom's cancer has a sneaky way of spreading like cobwebs throughout her abdomen, so this is a huge win!) The surgery even lasted exactly as long as they expected--only five hours!

In addition, her doctors were able to (just barely) keep enough of Mom's intestines intact, which means that, as long as her healing goes well, Mom should hopefully be able to eat normally and pain-free in the future! For now, to help ensure that her intestines heal properly, Mom's got an NG-tube for today and possible tomorrow, and then they'll switch her to a G-tube (which we've got lots of familiarity with from Dad's cancer over 8 years ago), but the G-tube should hopefully just be temporary for the next couple of months.

We are so thrilled with the news about the success of Mom's surgery that it's almost hard to believe. Going into this surgery, we really had no idea what to expect for the outcome. Mom's chemo wasn't working on these specific tumors, a clinical trial wouldn't work fast enough, and radiation wouldn't be effective. Surgery was our only possible route of taking care of this cancer that chemo just couldn't beat back anymore, and we were understandably nervous, especially after Mom's surgery two years ago. However, this surgery is already so wildly different from Mom's previous surgery and recovery process, which was filled with complications and unexpected challenges, and we are so, so grateful for what seems right now to be a hopefully straightforward path to healing. Mom may even be out of the hospital within a week!

Mom's cancer journey is definitely still not over. (That's the whole nature of Stage 4 cancer--the fight is never finished.) However, we are hopeful and grateful that, after several months, Mom can expect some pain-free and cancer-free rest for a while. As always, thank you to everyone who has sent your thoughts, prayers, and positive vibes and who have kept Mom on your mind and in your heart, and we appreciate this community of support so much. Please keep sending those healing thoughts Mom's way!