Surgery

Okay folks, this is the milestone. Not only is it the halfway point in our regimen, it's where we have the tumor removed, hopefully never to return. Mama, Millie and godmother Annette arrived at the hospital predawn today to prep for surgery. Millie refused the oral medication, the name of which escapes me but I call it "roofies" because it really threw her for a loop when she was prepped for the broviac surgery, mainly because it tastes bad. So she wasn't pleasantly carefree as they wheeled the gurney away and both she and mama shed some tears at their separation. Later it was revealed to us by her anaesthesiologist that he and Millie had a nice conversation about hibernation since she had her ever-faithful stuffed bear with her (as always), and soon she too was hibernating. His and the surgeon Dr. Phil's bedside manner seems to instill confidence in their patients and their nervous parents.

I arrived around 11am after stopping at Toys R Us - they don't open until 10! - for Millie's request of a Barbie Vacation House (we have to spoil her at times like this) and she wasn't quite done yet. When I arrived I got the amusing story from Laura and Annette who were in the main lobby as the assistant surgeon literally ran by - mid-operation! - to get something he "forgot". Instant panic! Turns out he was merely getting a camera to document the tumor. Then, not long after, Dr. Phil strolled into the lobby with a grin on his face - he was VERY satisfied with the surgery. He said there were zero complications, very little loss of blood, and he removed a 10cm section of her upper fibula from which the tumor had grown. Much to my disbelief there will be neither any grafting of bone to replace it nor will it grow back on its own - it's completely superfluous! It's the go-to bone for plastic surgeons needing a graft donor! You couldn't pick a better bone to get a tumor in. Wow. Who knew? The muscle that was attached to that section was reattached to the tibia and she will have no loss of mobility when she heals. Again... wow.

We met her as she awoke in the recovery room and she was tired, thirsty and in a little pain which was administered to with a morphine drip. She seemed fine once the grogginess wore off and best of all, HUNGRY! With the combination of the appetite stimulant we put her back on and no breakfast today, she demanded... you guessed it: SUSHI! So dad followed the nurses as they wheeled Millie back up to her familiar 10th floor while the ladies went out yet again to the Piedmont Avenue Japanese restaurant where they got us all lunch. Millie had two maguro sashimi appetizers, five slabs of raw tuna each, as well as three more slabs from one of our dishes, a little rice, and we set up her Barbie house on the table across her bed.

When Annette and I finally had to leave Millie seemed okay, not in much pain, but very disgruntled by the full leg cast which itches and doesn't allow her to bend her knee. Two weeks of this "soft" cast, then up to four weeks of a traditional hard cast (which allows for more abuse of the leg) and she'll be healed. Last I heard from Laura, Millie's taking out her annoyance on her mama, but that's a sure sign that she's fine. And the surgeon revised their release schedule from potentially Sunday or Monday (she has to learn to use crutches) to a possible Saturday (tomorrow) homecoming!

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. We've passed our milestone, and Millie's still a champion.