September. 29, 2010
Hi friends and family,
Here is an update on Ardyth and her condition. First of all, she continues to be upbeat, healthy and in no pain, sickness or any other physical outward problems.
The doctors have now confirmed that she has a tumor in her pancreas that is attached to a bio-duct that goes to her liver and her stomach. The good news right now is the tumor is pre-cancerous and seems to be confined to a small area. The tumor is about 1.5 inches in diameter, but they do not know how deep it might be.
As I mentioned before, whether the tumor is malignant or not, surgery needs to be performed. That surgery is now scheduled for next Monday, October 4 at noon, PDT. The surgery process is referred to as THE WIPPLE SURGERY. This means major surgery to cut out one half of the pancreas, part of the intestine(part of her stomach), one of the bio-ducts, and then rebuild and reattach these organs. This is a 2.5-3 hour surgery. She will have a couple of days in ICU to be sure the correct draining takes place and the healing process begins correctly. She will be hospitalized for 7-10 days before coming home. The full recovery time is about 6-8 weeks. The surgeon is someone we know from before, having removed part of my thyroid 3 years ago. He is the top surgeon in this area for this kind of surgery, having comleted over 100 of these operations.
Please remember her, us and the Doctor in your prayers. We really appreciate you all. We know prayer works. I will let you as soon as possible after the surgery how she is doing.
Jack