ok it was a long day yesterday! But a good one. Here's the update from Tyler, as of mid afternoon on Friday.

Russ's summary of what the doctor said was excellent. Some further details: he said there was a lot of inflammation; that there was a blockage of the pancreas; that it had been blocked for some time; that when they removed the tumor, all the built up fluid behind the blockage came out "like a gusher" and that they spent some time cleaning that up. He said everything had been reconnected and that it appeared to be "a favorable surgery", meaning, I think, that he thinks it went well and that he does not expect internal complications to arise.

He said she lost a pint of blood and they gave her a unit, but that that was not of concern. He said the pathologist had found that the margins of the removed tissue did not have cancer cells, and that they would be doing further testing on the removed tissue. He said the results would be known probably by next Wednesday, Aug 10, and that "this one could be a head scratcher"; he could not tell by looking whether the mass was cancerous or not.

He finished by saying we could find her in Medical ICU room 127 in an hour or so, after she spent some time in recovery.

In less than an hour, she came rolling down the hall en route to ICU. I spoke to her and she responded appropriately, to my amazement; the nurses said she had been responding for some time, even though she appeared to be asleep.

Ernie and Wilma and I got to go into ICU to see her for the first time around 8 pm. Unbelievably, she was awake; she saw us coming from some distance and waved. Then she recited several phone numbers for the nurse and carried on lively conversations with the 3 of us. Louanne happened to call just at that moment, so she got to talk to Lou too.

We all left around 9 or so, I guess; Wilma went home to Troup and Ernie and I made the drive back to Laneville in about an hour. We were both exhausted.

This morning, I went back to the hospital; arriving about noon. She is continuing to do well, though is feeling pain in her back. They have given her some pain medication, which she can call for whenever she needs it, subject to some quantity/time restrictions.

She gets tired easily but is alert and competent. The nurses keep telling her how well she has done, given that she’d had major surgery.

She looks good though is experiencing a bit of dry mouth, which Wilma began treating with a damp cloth. She is allowed a few ice chips every hour. It is kind of noisy here; will provide more info shortly, as she has awakened and wants to see her mail!