Four Days Till Surgery

[jw]

Jake & Linda - Best wishes for Tuesday.  Our prayers are with you.  I wish you an uneventful surgery and an easy recovery.  May you both be one of those people who recover so well & so quickly that we never hear from you again!  (you know what I mean)

Josh - What about Krispy Kreme?  The Excalibur has a small KK donut store there.  And I recall that Walgreens partway up the strip has an outlet.  Up here in the GWN (Great White North) we have few KK donuts.  Whenever I get to Toronto, I always stop at the one in Scarborough.  We have millions of Tim Horton's here, though.  They're the GWN's official donut chain.  Where I live (just outside of a city of 70,000 people), there must be at least 12 Tim Horton's donut stores.  Counting the other companies, we'd have close to 30 donut stores, I'll bet.  You see, it gets so cold here we need our coffee & donuts to get us going.  The heat of the coffee helps to defrost the window.  How about I send you a can of Tim Horton's coffee for your recovery?

[BostonJake]

Hi Gang,
Well, it's 625 am on monday morning, just 23.5 hours until it's time to start cutting.  I don't know what's up with these doctors getting up so early, so I asked.  Get this, they say after I'm asleep it's a good 1 1/2 hours of connecting monitoring equipment for your nerves.  Then the doctor said he might not come out to the waiting room to tell my girlfriend how everything went until 9-10 that night.  Here is what I want to know.  If I was a doctor, how do you go that long in surgery without becoming absolutly exhausted.  Do these guys even take a break for lunch??

Well, I'm scared.  I'm thinking about heading down to the hospital today just to look around and see what it's like.  I just plain old don't like hospitals.

Thanks again for all the kind words, hopefully I'll have a chance to get on here again before tuesday morning and read more of your great thoughts.

Thank you all,

Jake

[BostonJake]

What does resection mean?  As in resect the cerebellum?

[cookiesecond]

Hi Jake,
I know how you feel. I went through all the motions those last few days before surgery but the whole time as I was doing "normal" things, inside I was screaming I'M HAVING BRAIN SURGERY !!! Just know before long this will just be a memory. I pray things will go good for you.There are lots of us that have successful outcomes.

The doctors don't come out until surgery is complete but if you ask the nurses will keep your girlfriend updated. My surgery was 8 hours but I was back there about 10-11 hours. The nurse kept my family informed.We really appreciated that because the wait is misreable.

You are in my thoughts and prayers,
Lynn

[becknell]

Resection means removal of the tumor. It's a surgical term. Usually there is more than one doctor doing this surgery so, as it was explained to us, they sort of tag team, one works for a while and then the other works for a while, which gives them each a chance to take a break, I would presume. But doctors must have unbelievable stamina. Our surgeon did a different brain surgery before my husband's 9.5 hour surgery, which means he was doing surgery from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and then still had patients to see in the hospital. They did a great job.

[BostonJake]

Thanks Gang, well this morning has been crazy, all the proxies, work forms, and last minute details, I'm going to take the afternoon off, go apple picking, and just sit on t he beach and breath.


Jake

[JHager]

Jake,

You'll be our thoughts and prayers tomorrow.  Try to enjoy today (sounds like you're already on your way), and know that there are a lot of people pulling hard for you!

Let us know how you are when you feel like it.  Take care!

Josh

[jw]

Do these guys even take a break for lunch??

I guess this wouldn't be a good time to watch Sienfeld and the "Junior Mints" episode.

All the best for you, Jake.  You may not like hospitals, but after the surgery you just might not need to see any for a long time!  You're having this experience when you're young and strong, so that you have this fresh in your mind and can avoid them for many years.  Enjoy your apple picking, if that's possible today.  And think of that during your recovery.  One year from now, you'll be out picking apples again, but with happiness that you had your surgery and recovery.  Those apples will be sweeter than they ever were before.

I've often wondered the same about the doctors and long surgeries.  They probably get so intent on the surgery that time flies for them.  I'm sure they rest when they take turns.

Let us know how things work out, but only when you're feeling well enough to let us know.  I'm sure you will have a restless night tonight, but remember that there are a lot of people out here that will be thinking about you.

Linda - the same applies to you!!  We'll be thinking of you this evening, tonight and through tomorrow.  And we're hoping for a speedy recovery.

[wind6]

Hi Jake, You are not alone. I am glad to hear you are going to take a bit of time to just relax. I personally love the beach. The best news is....this will all be behind you very soon. I will spend some time tomorrow saying special prayers for you and for Linda and for those that love you both. I know you will both be fine. This group will be here waiting for news and for your return. I wish you peace for the remainder of your pre-treatment time.
Oh, my surgery was done using the same method as yours and my doctors told me they do use a tag team approach.     Sherry

[BostonJake]

Yea, I'm feeling really jittery and dont know if that the antiswelling medicine they gave me for 48 hrs prior to surgery, or if it the fact I'm about to have brain surgery.  My girlfriend Jo is stressed out to the max, I wish there was something more I could do for her.  I hate seeing her so sad.

I'm off to feed an 800lb pig at an apple farm lots of apples.  Allways a fun time.

Seen  the jr mint episode, I got a worse one.  Last scene of Hanibal.  Yuck!

Jake

[becknell]

Actually, I think "sitting on the beach" or some other equally relaxing pursuit is one of the best things you and your loved ones can to do prepare for this surgery. A couple weeks before my husband's surgery, we took a beach vacation  — it had been planned before the diagnosis, and we wanted to squeeze it in — and just had time to sit on the beach, relfect on the wonder of life and know that whatever the coming treatment brought, we could deal with it together and that we were certain we had made the decisions that were right for US. I felt that this "getting our minds right" as I thought of it then, was very helpful for us. Also, the morning of his surgery, I took time out for two things — one, to spend some quiet time praying, and two, to have a good, long cry, and that helped release a lot of stress for me. Then I felt I could be strong for HIM.

[jw]

I wonder how Jake and Linda are doing? 

[stein78]

Jake & Linda - thinknig about you two today.  Hope all is going well!

[debora]

Isn't it funny how you don't have to know someone to truely care what happens to them,  Jake and Linda you are in my prayers also.   I hope a speedy recovery for you both.   Deb

[matti]

Deb - I know exactly what you mean.

 I have a little note pad next to my computer with everyone's surgery date and on those days the concentration on my work seems to take a back seat. Most of us will probably never meet in person, but we all share a very strong connection. 

Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers!

matti