Update

I am so tired and probably will not make much sense right now, but I am going to try.

Alec and I woke up at 2:00 am this morning (we couldn't sleep) and we all headed down to Boston for a 6:00 am check in. His mom, Charlotte and my mom were all there to see him off and while we were all nervous we were in good spirits and looking to get the day behind us.

Waiting is the hardest part. Dr. Ferrone started at 8:45 and we were only given 3 updates throughout the day..."its taking a while and she is still working on him" the nurse would say.(Duh, thanks) Finally at about 4 something Dr. Ferrone came down and the at the sight of her I almost burst into tears. But she brought us into the consult room and gave us the low down.

They spent 5 hours doing the surgery laporscopicaly (which meant much faster recovery and a small incision site) and were 90% done when he started to bleed and they had to make the decision to open him up and go in through a large incision. Dr. Ferrone was very frustrated that they had come so far, only to have to go back but said needed to do so to keep him safe.

The tumor was the size of a grapefruit and they had to take 60% of his liver. Because the liver took so long they were unable to do the lungs and he will have to go back into surgery Monday.

So while things did not go exactly as planned, the bottom line is the tumor on his liver his out and he did well throughout the surgery. Unfortunately, because of what happened he had to stay in the ICU with a breathing tube and is still unconscious and will not be out until tomorrow morning. We did not get to see him today, but will be able to tomorrow.

Dr. Ferrone was optimistic and said we were going to have a great 2011 with much to look forward to, there is nothing like hearing that from the doctor who just spent 8 hours removing cancer from your loved ones body.

At any moment I could just burst into tears, and I don't know what kind of cry it would be...maybe because I am happy today is over, or relieved that he is doing OK, or maybe because I am just so damn tired.

I have the ICU on speed dial and may call them every few hours to make sure things are stable, its hard not to see him with my own eyes, but I know he is getting the best care.

Thank you all for your prayers, it means so much. We are so grateful that things went as well as they did and that Alec is in such good hands at MGH. I will update tomorrow. I cant say that the worst is over, but I can say THANK YOU GOD for getting us through this day and the next few days to come.

Love to all,

Heather & Alec