The Day of the Third (cont.)

My dad’s surgery was supposed to be about 4 to 6 hours long, but in reality it was close to 8 hours long, those were the longest eight hours of my life. It was horrible! The nurse that came in to tell else that my dad was out of surgery also told us that Dr. Miller, my dad’s surgeon, would be out shortly to speak to us.

                After the nurse left the room we sat in that awkward waiting room for what seemed like forever, but it was actually only about twenty minutes. That was the shortest wait we had had all day, but it seemed like the longest wait. Dr. Miller finally came into the waiting room and asked us to follow him into this tiny room that contained only a couch and table with a box of Kleenexes on it. He stood in front of us and informed us that they were not able to get the entire tumor but they were able to get most of the tumor, and that the reason the surgery had taken so much longer than anticipated was that the tumor was actually larger than they had previously thought and went down into his brain had breached my dad’s brain’s blood barrier. This all sounded pretty scary, but at the time I had no idea what it all meant, but I was too nervous and scared to ask the doctor so after he left the room I began to ask my mom all the questions I had, but she at this point she began to cry, so I could tell it wasn’t good news we had gotten and by the time my mom started crying, my sister had already left the room. My mom and I aren’t exactly close, I’ll always go to my dad or sister for anything, before I go to my mom, she tends to blow things out of proportion and I very negative, so I really needed my sister, but I couldn’t find her. She was really close to my dad as am I but she was taking the news we had just received a little bit harder than I was. I didn’t fully understand what was going on and my aunt Lori and I were having a really tough time comforting my mom. My aunt was also having a tough time with the news we received because even though she hadn’t been real close to my dad in recent years she could still remember how nice he was to her when my dad and mom were dating. He would invite my aunt to movies with them and she could still remember seeing “Jaws” with them almost thirty years earlier.

                We were all affected by the news about my dad’s surgery, but we were still happy about them getting most of the tumor, I think looking back we couldn’t have gotten worse news, but at the same time I do not think we could have gotten better news about how the surgery went.

               

The Day of the Third Surgery (cont.)

                My mom, my sister, and I were all just sitting in the hospital waiting for any news about my dad, when my aunt Lori came in to the waiting room where we were sitting awkwardly with the families of other patients at the hospital. The room we were in was not really small, but under the circumstances it seemed like the smallest room I had ever been in. My aunt came in with some magazines for my sister and mom to read while we waited, and she brought me in the most current issue of “Sports Illustrated”, which just happened to be my favorite magazine. She also brought in some candy for us to eat while we waited for some kind of news about what was going on with my dad. At the time these things seemed like just small gestures, that really didn’t affect how things were, but looking back now, these small gestures really affected how things went for us. I can’t really speak for my mom and sister, but I know everything my aunt did that day really helped me. The candy and magazines helped me feel more comfortable, and helped make that somewhat cramped hospital waiting room feel more like home.

                After several hours with absolutely no news about what was going on in the operating room my dad was in a nurse finally came out and told us that he was doing okay and they were about half way through what ended up being close to an eight hour surgery. We were all greatly relieved by this news and at this point we all decided to go to the hospital cafeteria and eat a lunch that for me consisted of a slice of pepperoni pizza and some French fries, it was the first thing I had eaten all day besides a few Reese’s Peanut Butter, and it was great. It’s weird when you’re extremely worried about something how something as simple as getting something substantial to eat can make you feel so much better.

                After we ate we went back to the semi-cramped waiting room and waited for some more news on my dad, which didn’t some until several hours later. While we waited for some news I worked on homework and my mom, sister, and aunt all read the magazines my aunt had brought.

                After I finished my homework my sister and I went outside to make some phone calls and just let everyone at home no how things were going. My sister called my grandparents and out minister, Shane, while I called my uncle Mike, my mom’s brother, and my uncle Tom, my dad’s brother. We told all of them that they hadn’t given anymore news, but last we knew my dad was doing well and they should be done fairly soon.

                A couple more hours passed and finally the same nurse who had talked to us earlier came in to the waiting room we were in and told that my dad was finally out of surgery.

The Day of the Third Surgery

                The days after my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer for the third time, we were all very worried. As I imagine every family would be, but we were even more concerned than I think other families would be. We were more concerned because we had been through it all not just once before, but twice before. While that is true, we were more prepared than most would have been, but we were also extremely worried about what could happen, especially since brain surgery is extremely stressful on your body, and my father had been through two such surgeries in just over five years.

                We were all pretty worried, but I think for the first time my dad was actually more worries than the rest of us. My dad was extremely worried, but he really tried to remain positive. He said he knew he would come out of the surgery and recover like he had every time before, he knew he would get better again.

                The morning of the surgery we went to IUPUI teaching hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, the same place my dad had had his previous, most recent brain surgery that had been under four months earlier in June 2009. When we went into the hospital we first found what floor the doctor’s office was on, so he could get checked in to complete the last few things that had to be completed before he could have his surgery. My dad changed into a hospital gown, while my mom filled out some paperwork. As my mom completed the paperwork it became close to the time for my dad to go into surgery so we went into a little room as a family and they told us this room would be his last stop before surgery, so if we had anything to say we should say it now. At this point we all, my mom, my sister, and I, all said what could be our last goodbyes. We didn’t know what this would be, and I think that was the scariest thing for all of us. I was fine until, my dad with tears in his eyes handed me his watch and said he loved me. At this point I basically just had a meltdown. I don’t ever remember a time when I had cried that hard, it was horrible, and all I remember thinking was why am I doing this? If this is the last time I see my dad, this isn’t how I want it to be. My sister later told me that she had done the same thing the last two surgeries and at that point I gave her dad’s watch because I couldn’t hold on to it. It was bad enough being in that hospital and just looking around and seeing so many sad people, I didn’t want to think about it anymore than I had to. I was very scared and really regretting my decision to be there for the third surgery, while I hated being in the dark, there was just no way for me to get my mind off of the surgery.