Hi all,
By now, I imagine, many of you will have seen the short movie of Derek which Airdrie published on Derek's blog (penmachine.com). As you can tell, he is in very good shape. The pain suppressant is working well (a morphine drip which Derek controls by means of a small release button). We visited him yesterday and talked a lot about what he went through and what is still to come.
His operation on July 6 was a lengthy one (4 and 1/2 hours). As I mentioned before, the surgeons saved all his internal "plumbing". His shortened colon was reattached to what little remains of his rectum and he has a temporary ileostomy bag, which will be removed at a later time (likely some months). His left ureter has also been reconnected, but a temporary tube has been installed. This will be removed later as well. All of the original colon cancer was taken out. The cancer had expanded and attached itself to his tailbone; the cancer was removed from that site, too, but this area will have to be watched closely. The next steps in Derek's treatment will involve chemotherapy, as soon as he has recovered sufficiently. Derek has a great sense of relief (as we all do) that the operation is finally behind him, and that he is likely to regain most of his intestinal functions.
There are still many months of treatment ahead, to deal with the metastases, but an important step has been taken. Airdrie and I will keep you informed on our respective blogs.
Our thoughts (and much to Derek's disgruntlement--prayers) are with you all right now. Get well soon, Derek!
ReplyDeleteWe can really understand Derek's relief to finally have gotten the major operation over with. We went through many of the same feelings last year when John had his surgeries. We are just thrilled to see how well he's doing and we'll continue to send our best healing vibes and love to Derek and Airdrie.
ReplyDeleteTerry & John
xxxxx