October 8, 11:10 AM (Surgery Day!)

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to update you on what we found out about how dad's surgery is going. They call down to the waiting room desk periodically and let us know how surgery is going. As of now, the ENT is still working on him. The ENT is the one who opens him up and then Dr. Anderson (neurosurgeon) comes in and does the dirty work. Dad didn't get into the operating room until about nine. We got here at 5 and his surgery was scheduled for 7:30, but the operating room apparently wasn't available until 9:00. The nurse that called down said that dad did well with the anesthesia (which was a concern because he usually gets sick) and that everything is going as expected right now in the OR. I will try to keep you updated as we hear things. Please let me know if you get tired of hearing from me!

Here is what we found out at our consultation yesterday. Some of you have heard from me already, so disregard if you have. Yesterday, we went through a crazy day of meeting with doctors, anesthesiologists, residents, nurses, MRI staff, etc. The traffic was crazy so we had to postpone 2 of our appointments and we ended up spending about 12 hours at the hospital. Dad got these sticky things that look like life savers all over his head that he had to wear all day and night. The "life savers" are so they could get a 3-D image of his brain. He was a bit embarrassed by having these things all over him. Some little kid asked her mom why "that man" had cereal on his head. It was cute. The day did not go well at all, but someone said that if the rehearsal is bad then it will be a great performance! I hope so.

Dad was exhausted by the end of the day, but he still has a great attitude. Anyway, back to surgery stuff; they might have to take fat from his stomach to do something magical in his brain (I honestly can't keep it all straight). They might also have to drill through the ear in which case he would permanently lose his hearing in the right side but his hearing isn't great in that side anyway.

There are a lot of people here waiting with us all. Saying goodbye before surgery was VERY hard, but Anyway, we are waiting and hoping and praying that everything goes okay! You do not have to respond to this email, but I did want to update you all. Thanks for all your calls, texts, emails, cards, and all of your support! Hope you all are having a great day and don't worry about us, we are doing just fine.

Love,
Cejae