Doctor Report

Okay -- I just got the info and I will try to relay it as clearly as I understand it, which isn't very well.

First -- surgery was 'uneventful' -- which is always good! Jack came through well. Rob and Tammy had already been able to see him for a minute and get him to respond to some things just a little. He's going to be kept sedated through this evening, then has a follow-up MRI in the morning.

The tumor appears to be non-malignant. Of course, this will have to be verified by the pathology report that will take a little more than a week to be returned. All of Jack's symptoms can be due to the pressure from the tumor. Even the vomitting that he was having on a regular basis last fall. There was a slight disappointment in that there were 4 small pieces of the tumor that Dr. Price was not able to get to because they were attached to the brain stem and "Jack was not tolerating her getting to them". The implications for those 4 pieces can be anything from no further problems and ignore them to needing to treat them as if they were a cancerous tumor. It will all depend on Jack's recovery for weeks and months to come. Jack will be going back to that hospital on a regular basis for a while to be monitored for that.

The next 2 sets of 48 hours are fairly critical for Jack and his punkin' head. The first set of 48 hours his brain will have to settle down and recover from the trauma of the surgery. The next set of 48 hours his brain will be adjusting to the lack of pressure from the tumor being gone.

Jack didn't even have to have his whole head shaved -- his incision is covered with a band-aid on the back of his neck. (I'm feeling a little like Gomer Pyle -- Gaaaahhh-leeee -- have brain surgery and get a band-aid?)

For those of you who have been using this blog as your sole source of Marcelain information, I have failed to mention that Tammy got the stomach virus that is cruising around Abilene and had the throw-ups Tuesday night. Then, spent the night sleeping on the waiting room floor of the ICU. Some things sound perfectly normal if you're a mother but otherwise, a little nutty! She said she woke up Wednesday morning feeling about 85% (we concluded 85% was probably as good as it would get sleeping on the waiting room floor!) I only spoke to her briefly before she heard from the Dr. -- Phil Ware (our preacher and friend) went in with Rob and Tammy to hear the Dr. report and he gave me all of the above information. She sounded good, but tired, when I spoke with her.

Specific prayers:
Pray that the next 96 hours of Jack's brain recovery are uneventful and he tolerates all of the recovery well.

Pray that the long-term implications of the pieces of tumor that are left don't interfere with Jack's ability to have a full and normal life.

Pray that Rob and Tammy can get rest and be able to be well. The Dr. really encouraged them to spend the night at the Ronald McDonald House tonight since Jack would be sedated for the rest of the night. Phil got the impression that they were planning to stay at the hospital. Allow me to editorialize and ask you to pray that they go to the Ronald McDonald House and get some real sleep. Today was only the first leg of this marathon. There is much more to wait on and deal with and decide about and I pray that Rob and Tammy will get decent sleep to be ready to begin the next leg of this Grand Adventure.

More Editorializing (It's good to be the editor! :-) Tammy has not had an opportunity to see the blog at all today, but she wept telling me about how much it blessed her yesterday to see this. This has immensely blessed me also. We are using this blessing of technology to let the church be church -- God's people touching and loving and praying for God's people. I think I only know about 70% of the people who have posted comments and only REALLY know about 50% of those, but I love each of you for lifting up our sweet Jack and Rob and Tammy in prayer.

Keep praying! I'll keep posting!