July 1, 2016. Surgery scheduled

We spoke with Cole's oncologist and the surgeon yesterday, and due to the urgency of Cole's situation he has been scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, July 5th. We have to be there around 7:30am and his surgery will likely be around 10:30. As previously shared, this isn't ideal given his inflammation, but they feel it is in Cole's best interest to do this.

Our visit to the HEMOC clinic today consisted of review of the CT scan from Monday, more surgery discussion, meeting with anesthesiology and prep for surgery, and an X-ray of his abdomen to check out the bowels. And the bowels look much better, we've made progress in the restroom!  Our inflammatory markers (CRP) were down a little, hemoglobin and platelets up, and white blood cells were down as well which is all some positive news.

The goal of the surgery Tuesday is removal of the largest tumor which they believe is inside of his right lung. Prior, it wasn't certain if it was pushing on the outside or if it was actually in it. They are pretty certain it's in the lung (and the other spots I mentioned last time). The anticipated plan is that they will have to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, with the chance of removing the middle and worst case, the entire lung. They don't anticipate this being the case, but they won't know exactly how much until they are in but they're pretty certain the entire lower lobe will have to be removed to capture all of the tumor. With the goal of removal of this particular tumor for diagnoses, they do not plan to remove any of the others at this point. As I previously stated, IF this is indeed cancer, they want to identify what kind so they can treat, hopefully treatment will take care of the other tumors or he'll need surgery again at a later point.

We all know this is dangerous, and with this surgery comes risks, but at the rate that the tumor(s) grew and spread along with Cole's current condition, we feel confident that the doctors' decision to go in now is best. We need to know what this is, and it's been long enough. There is not time to wait and have things possibly get worse.

We know Cole will go straight to the PICU (pediatric ICU), and the surgeon anticipates he will be on a ventilator. He may not be of course, but he anticipates he will as of now. The question is, for how long.. They won't know until after the surgery and of course it depends on any complications that arise, particularly the large chance of bleeding which is the biggest risk going in. I don't even want to talk about the other risks right now, particularly with the lung and his breathing. They will have blood supplies on hand during his surgery so they will be prepared for his needs. Even if not during surgery, he may need another blood transfusion before he leaves, we'll see how it goes. We must pray HARD that there are NO bleeding complications during surgery due to the inflammation..we CANNOT let our minds go there.

I kind of take my mind to a numb place to talk about all of this..this is the hardest thing I've ever experienced. I know that Tuesday will be the scariest day of my life so far. I pray that God gives me, and all of us, the strength we need and I know that He will be watching over our sweet baby. I believe the surgery will be a success, there will be no complications, and that we will be on the next path to treat all that remains, and that my baby will recover. I choose to believe nothing else.

"But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength." - 2 Timothy 4:17