Surgery is complete!

So we just spoke to Dr. Selby. The surgery went very well and he felt that the margins were good (which means that they think they got almost all of the tumor out). Christine did not have to have any blood transfused. They were able to keep a lot of her pancreas and the doctor said that as long as she maintains her weight she should not have to worry about diabetes. He also mentioned that her lymph nodes looked good and they weren't enlarged, but they will still take a look to see if there's anything microscopically. As for her liver, they shaved a portion of it to biopsy, but noticed that the small lesions they saw during her last CT scan was more like a bruise. I believe he called it a hemangioma, and at surface did not seem cancerous, but again, they will check the liver to see if there's anything microscopically. The tumor also did not invade the stomach, but what it was affecting was the vein that carried stuff out of the stomach (I know I'm being really technical here), which they were able to cut away from the tumor and rebuild. That means they did not have to take any portion of her stomach. Dr. Selby said that he was "very pleased" with the outcome of the procedure.

They've brought Christine into the ICU, but it will still be another 2 1/2 hours before we know if we can go visit her. I think everyone here is super relieved and feeling really optimistic. Thanks everyone for all of your support!

- Cathy