finally the wait is over! my mom's surgery ended at around 3:30, almost two hours before they thought it would! Dr. Tew and the EEG specialist Dr. DeAngelis came to talk to my brother, dad, and I about how the surgery went (the pastor also came into the consultation room with us). Dr. Tew said everything went just as they anticipated, but with a few surprises. The tumor wasn't sticky at all, in fact, he said it practically fell apart in their hands! Also, she has just a tiny bit of facial weakness, and although that may increase throughout tonight and tomorrow morning, it is only temporary and not severe.
But the most amazing thing is that they think she still has hearing in her left ear!! Dr. Tew initially said that there is a 100% garantee she would be SSD with the type of procedure they were doing. But according to a test that they ran in the procedure room, her left ear was showing signs of picking up sound.
They said they wouldn't know for sure until she is awake enough to answer their questions. At the end of the consult, dr tew asked my pastor if he could lead us in a quick prayer! dr. tew and deangelis formed a circle with us and held our hands! i could not believe it! Our pastor said that that was the first time a surgeon had ever asked him to pray with the family. It made me feel so good, and really comforted my entire family. He really does care.
Right now, she is in ICU room number 1 and she is in A LOT of pain. The nurse said that the pain is elevating her blood pressure, but that is normal for this type of surgery. It worries me, but they said she is doing just fine. We went in to see her for about 5 minutes and she said hi and she loved us. We told her how proud we were of her and that we spoke with dr. tew and dr. deangelis, and she even asked "what did they say?". we told her the good news and mentioned the prayer at the end, she was happy to hear that.
so thank you for all of your continuous prayers and support. i will keep you updated. they said that if all goes well tonight, then she will be moved to a regular hospital room tomorrow afternoon.
my family is staying at a hotel that is part of the hospital, and we are all exhausted! it has been a very long day, i am so thankful that she is alright. i pray for a full and speedy recovery.
more later! love you all,
Kristin
p.s. i can't wait to get some rest! i think i'll actually sleep a little tonight, unlike last night
![Smiley :)](https://www.anausa.org/smf/Smileys/classic/smiley.gif)