Day 116 update. Today is a big day for possibly eating, but with yet another bump in the road. This morning at 7am Susan had her esophageal stent removed! This vastly increases the number of things she can eat, improving her ability to take more consistent calories by mouth and reducing another source of pain and discomfort. This is great news and she tolerated the procedure beautifully!

The difficulty is that we were hopeful that the doctors could retrieve the biliary stent they placed, but they could not do so endoscopically. Apparently it has dislodged from where it was placed and migrated into her colon. It could possibly explain the complications and pain she has been experiencing, but the doctor today seemed hesitant to say that for sure. It is distressing to my mom and me that they were unable to get it, but they want to wait two months to see if it migrates through on its own.  I've requested an additional conversation with her lead surgeon and hopefully he'll give us all a little peace of mind. Either way, it seems like nothing to do for now but wait. I just hate that she is living with additional barriers to recovery. Susan is a strong fighter, but she's fragile right now and these steps back can be hard.

While holding and honoring that, we are still celebrating a stent removal. It's one more piece out of her and one more step to her new normal. She's home and resting (and we both need a nap from our 4am wakeup!). Once she's feeling better, I'll start giving her lots of food she's been unable to eat! Toast! Chips! Salad! Nuts! Onward!