And he's up again.

The surgeon was able to bypass the blockage. Hooray!

The blockage itself was caused by the cancer, which I think we all knew on some level or another, but the important thing is that it's no longer causing him pain. Despite major abdominal surgery, he's already been up and out of bed and walked a bit around the hospital floor.

The surgeon who operated on Dad - Dr. G. - and his team came in this morning to explain to Dad what was done yesterday.

"Okay," Dad said when they finished. "Can I get my IV port before I leave?"

I wish you all could have seen the look on Dr. G's face. It could roughly be translated into, "I'm sorry - you want WHAT? More surgery?"

"Well," Dad explained, because this was all completely reasonable to him, "yesterday, I came as close to surgery as you can come without actually getting surgery. Rather than having to go home and then come back later for the port, why can't we just knock it out while I'm here? Otherwise it's a real pain in the neck."

The team gave a collective blink. I don't think they're used to having a patient who is so fresh out of the OR request a second session with the scalpel.

Then they mobilized. All at once.

"Yes!"

"Sure!"

"Of course!"

"That can be done!"

"We'll order it today so you're on the schedule for early next week!"

Dr. G. nodded thoughtfully. "Assuming you recover well and have no signs of a secondary infection, I see no reason we cannot insert your port before you leave."

The lawyer in me was pleased to see the reasoned thinking.

The daughter in me was pleased to see Dad getting what he wants.

Both sides of me will be happiest when he is back where he belongs - swimming in the pool, fixing teeth (I have a busted tooth, so I need him back chairside pronto!) and driving around in the early morning, making certain the world is where he left it the night before.



Peace,

Connie