Surgery Update (from Joel)

Mom just got out of surgery at the IU Med Center in downtown Indianapolis. Everything went very well.  Dr. Goulet removed the tumor completely with the assistance from Brian's old med school friend Claire Jackson who is now a surgery resident.

In addition, during surgery they inspected nearby lymph nodes using a blue dye for any other signs of cancer, and the initial set of inspections came back negative, which is great news.  

The pathologist will do a second deep dive analysis of the blue-dye lymph nodes to check thoroughly for anything.  Mom meets with the oncologist on January 7th to get the results back from that lymph node test.  Typically, the visual lymph node inspection the pathologist performs during surgery matches the post-op deeper dive inspection in the lab, so all early signs are positive.

Dad, Brian, Moni, and I are currently hanging out in the post-op recovery area while Mom sips on 7-Up and eats crackers.  She's got the usual post-op pain but a bit of morphine and ice is giving her comfort.

We'll probably head back home later today once Mom is a bit less dopey.