I started this blog to field questions regarding Rob's surgery, and he has come home now.  I am grateful for the continued interest and concern for him, so I will continue to give updates.  Robert came home late Wednesday afternoon and we stopped to visit one of his friends in the hospital.  We got home just in time to go to Michael's (our son) Court of Honor.  Of course Rob was tired by then and had a rough first night.  He continues to improve daily, and this morning when I told him it was time for some more medicine he replied with "Really?" I am taking that as a good sign because previously he was asking "Is it time yet?" So hopefully, that means his pain is beginning to subside.  He has 6 meds that I have to keep track of to dispense at the appropriate time, and I have to write them all down as to what I give him and when so that I don't forget, and he gets what he needs! He has been vigilant in doing what little minor therapy they gave him for his hand and forearm.  It is increasingly painful, and yesterday some of the nerves in his forearm started to wake up.  Ouch! However, he has lost a lot of muscle and nerves in his upper arm.  I am very happy that he has the use of his hand, and it is progressing so well!  I am disappointed that he lost more muscle than expected in his upper arm, and so will have a limited range of motion with his elbow. He has had the deltoid muscle removed, one of his biceps, the other one was disconnected, and then sewn back on. Likewise, he lost some of his pectoral muscle and what was saved had to be sewn back on to a different spot.  No, I don't know where they put it! What this means is that he currently has very limited up and down use of his arm, but that will get better as the bicep heals. Also that he can't raise his arm without his deltoid muscle, and he won't be able to move his arm left to right either even after he is all healed.  I have the pleasure of being his full time nurse, and am grateful that I can help and be a part of this change in his life, rather than a bystander watching it unfold.  Robert will where a sling on his arm for at least 6 weeks, and possibly 3 months, depending on how long it takes the new joint to "set" and heal.  During this time he needs a considerable amount of help, but once the arm is out of the sling, things will begin to settle out on their own.  Right now, he needs to be bathed, dressed, tucked into bed, medicated, iced down, bandages changed, and chauffeured.  He can't drive himself while he is on the narcotics!  It truly is a privilege to serve him! He has cared for me and our family for almost 18 years, and I adore and love him forever, always, and no matter what! Well, I must go now to get us ready for a medical appointment, but I will try to continue updating things when I have a few minutes.  Isn't our family picture so cute that my sister took a couple of days before the surgery? I just wanted to share that happy moment with all of you, and let you know that we all feel our Savior's love for us, and are immensely grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that gives us the strength to see the good in this life, and endure to the end!

Robert is improving a little each day. Today his pain is down to a 6; on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst. He has been able to be freed of some of the cords, but of course, still has an iv in his arm. He is still getting oxygen because of the narcotics (we like those!), and he still has a little finger tip monitor for his heart. I managed to go home last night for the first time, but it was hard to leave him. Then I came back early this morning, before the children were all up, so I only got to see three of them.  It's hard not to be able to be in two places at once, and I sincerely appreciate all of the people who are tending to our family while we are busy.  The family did get to come to the hospital to see their Dad yesterday, and got to spend a couple of hours with him. He got tired after a walk with them, and then had them stand at the end of the bed so he could see them while they talked to him.  He did spend more time in a chair than in his bed while there were visitors in and out.  Thank you to everyone who came to cheer him up, and he apologizes for his grogginess, but he really did like to see friends and family.  Of course short visit are best still because as much as he likes to see people, he won't ask anyone to leave even when he is tired. 
Today I can tell he is feeling better, but he still needs a lot of help.  He can reach a few spots to itch, but mostly that is my pleasure to tend to, among a myriad of other things.  He is healing well, Dr. Gafferty checked his wound this morning, and declared that it was 'lookin' goooood". It looked different than I was expecting, but the Dr. says that it will be evolving for about a year. Also, he felt a marked improvement in the strength in his hand today. There is a medicine that he is taking that helps with the nerve pain because the narcotics don't help with nerve pain. Good news, true to his word, Dr. Jones did remove his old scar on his arm, and he is the beneficiary of some free cosmetic surgery that way! HAHA! We shall see just how much his new scar will cost  him, so it was like a bonus to have the other one removed.  I did leave the house in a hurry this morning, but saw that the children have been treated well with homemade treats being dropped by.  I did stop to smell a pie last with a darling little ghost on it, oh  yumm! I am going to ask the guys to save us a piece of that and bring it to the hospital tonight! Apple pie and chocolate pie are Robert's favorite, and apple pie reminds me of my Grandma Marie that taught me how to make them. Thank you for everyone's willingness and initiative to do whatever they can. My family loves the treats and play dates, and I have heard good things about the delicious food that keeps coming from angels every night! I am sure I will be seeking out recipes later because I like to try new things, but it's even better if my family likes to eat the things I make. Sometimes I get in a lull with cooking, so this will freshens things up a bit with all of the new recipes! Also, the girls like all of the play dates and attention that they are getting, and Victoria was a pro at keeping track of them and their scheduling.  Way to go Victoria!  Deb Powell is staying at the house this week, and my Mom will be flying in shortly there after.  Stephanie is coming every Tues. to help with whatever needs to be done. Time for breakfast, so I'll have to say goodbye.

Getting Better

Robert is doing better this afternoon, and we are getting closer to managing his pain.  The doctors were very excited about the movement in his hand this morning, and we got a little more explanation about their original concern. Dr. Jones found that the "casing" around the tumor had not been breached under his arm and so they carefully pulled the nerves off of the tumor.  Hence, they were unsure as to the amount of stress or damage that the nerves sustained during the process.  On the contrary, the top of the tumor was evasive, and rather than pushing things out of the way, it invaded the bone and tissue.  The assisting ortho-surgeon told me that the casing around the tumor is thinner than a piece of saran wrap! Amazing that it contained the cancerous cells.  He did get up and take a little walk around the room, and we re-adjusted his sling for better support.  He didn't get to his room last night until 11:00 because it took 2 hours instead of one to stitch him closed.  I am happy that all of the stitches are internal, and I won't have to do much wound care.  He is off of the drip pain meds and onto the good stuff with pills. I think that the children will be able to come by and see him this evening!    

Saturday morning

We are happy to tell you that he has hand function! Yeah! He is awake and things are busy, I will post details late in the afternoon today.

.Surgery complete

I spoke to the doctor about 8 pm and he said that they were starting to stitch his skin back together. 
there was a lot of cancerous bone and they were only able to save 3" of his humerus.  On the flip side, the tumor miraculously pulled away from the shoulder blade and they were able to save most of the shoulder blade; with the exception of the piece of bone that connects it to the joint, but I don't remember it's proper name.  The good news is that it gave them a stable place to connect the prosthetic too.  So, rather than having to string it to his collar bone and other various things, they were able to place it with only three screws to the shoulder blade.  The sad news is that the doctor said he had to cut only 1 millimeter from the nerves to the arm and is unsure whether or not they will work.  So, even after saving the arm, he may still end up with very limited use.  Prayers are still welcome! Our family doctor (Br.Wood) did tell me that if they didn't cut any of them, they can repair themselves at the rate of 1 centimeter per month.  Another lesson in patience possibly awaits.  So, although he didn't get the miracle he was asking specifically for, it was still a miraculous change in the tumor to save the shoulder blade.  The deltoid muscle however had cancer in it, and so there was no possible way to save it.  Robert will be to his room soon, and I am anxious to see him, and to tell him of the tender mercies during his surgery, but storytelling will wait until tomorrow for him. Thank you all for your support, we could not have endured with out your strength and faith in our behalf.

Tumor

Yeah! Good news----The entire tumor is out! I can do a happy dance, but not really.  The nurse said that they will start removing the "hardware" now.  It will still be a while though because the doctor told me that they will call when they start to close, and just closing takes an hour.  They started the second unit of blood about an hour ago, so they are using it as expected for this surgery.  Thank you again for all of your continual prayers, and I know that some people are fasting for us today and it is appreciated.And thank you for all of the visitors in the waiting room, and my surgery buddy, Miki.  You guys are awesome! Richard, my brother has stuck it out with me the entire time since 6 this morning, and it has made time fly to have visitors that are caring and loving.  We love you all!

Getting closer

They a have removed all of the tumor from under his arm and are starting on the top of his shoulder.  Yeah for progress!

Long haul

Well I got a call from the nurse at 11 am that said everything was going fine.  Then at 1:45 I talked to the nurse a little more, and they still do not have all of the tumor out yet.  A little slump for me because I thought I would get a percentage (hoping for at least 50%) of removal, but that was not the case.  The nurse said that she had yet to receive a "significant" specimen.  Meaning that the doctor is still doing detail work in removal. I was hopeful when the surgery board only had him scheduled til 1:30 today, but he still has a long way to go.  I am feeling disappointed to start the afternoon so far behind because I was hoping to be done at dinner time with a 7:30 am start time.  I just have to keep in mind that they started later at 9:00 am. So it is going well, and I will have to change my mindset.      

Confusion and late start

Well we had an unsteady start here this morning, but I'm okay.  The anaesthesiologist's assistant was unsure about our start time, bc the other lady that was scheduled said she wasn't available in the morning.  Then more delay when Dr. Jones came in and asked where the first patient was.  Any how she has been effectively bumped for two weeks now.  Then the assistant tried for twenty minutes to get an IV line in his hand, and the anaesthesiologist looked at his ankles, but ultimately they took him to pre-op with out the iv.  However, the anaesthesiologist just came out to tell us that after giving him some laughing gas they got the two lines in that they wanted. One is in his knuckle and the other on his forearm.  He will basically be laid on his side on  a beanbag for the duration of the surgery so that the doctor can work all the way around his arm.  They are planning to do a blood infusion because of the length of time and expected blood loss.  So, for now we r starting an hour late, but once the scheduling was worked out, I think the doctor was almost giddy to get started! Seriously, he was happy. My brother Richard was surprised by how young he looked, and he and Rob where able to laugh and joke a bit this morning.  Well, that's it for now. 

Friday Oct. 15Th Surgery

Robert will report to the Huntsman Cancer Institute at 6:00 a.m., and be ready for surgery at 7:30 a.m.  We appreciate the enormous amount of prayers from our family and friends.  We have been blessed with a continual peace the last two weeks because of everyone's efforts to pray for our well being.  We thank each of you, and are anxious for tomorrow to go well. 

Bone Scan Update

Robert's full body bone scan went well today.  I spoke with Dr. Jones at the Sarcoma clinic about 5:00 this evening.  The radiologist only saw two points of "interest", but the Dr. didn't think they were of "concern" but more normal for an osteochondrona (big name for his extra bones) patient.  One spot was on his left humerus, and the other on his sternum.  The Dr. hadn't ever seen one on a sternum before, but he was not alarmed, and they will of course follow both of the areas in the follow-up scans for the next several years.  We are not concerned, and are relieved with the results.  I spoke to Dr. Jones about my own concerns for the stability of Robert's shoulder joint after loosing so much bone and tissue. I asked if he would be able to carry children on his shoulders, or did we need to be protective of it.  He thought that he would be able to carry children, but of course after a sensible healing period.  The Dr. also told me that he was going to try to save some of his shoulder blade, but we will just have to wait and see.  The more places that he can anchor the new "bone" to will help stabilize it, and then the scar tissue that grows in will solidify the joint.  Scar tissue is good and bad.  While it helps to stabilize the joint, it can also grow in to the point that it will cause a frozen joint that would not allow him to lift his right arm with his left hand. So, good and bad.  But he will have time to adjust.  There is a short surgery that the doctor will do first on the 15th before Robert, but he told me to be prepared for the surgery to take 12 hours.  That is a long surgery, but the nurse will call me with updates every two hours, and I will then be able to post them here.  I hope this answers a few more questions, and I will try to answer any questions if someone posts a comment.  Thanks to you all! 

First Update

Hello to our family and friends.  Robert will be having surgery on his arm on October 15th, and we will not have a start time until late on the 14th.  However, Robert will be having a full body bone scan Friday morning the 8th as part of the standard protocol for this cancer.  The scan is to see if the cancer has spread to any of the other bones in his body.  Thankfully results will come later in the day and we won't have to spend the weekend wondering about them.  A little extra information is that the doctor performing the surgery is Kevin Jones.  The clinical assistant is named Michael, and the nurse is named Nancy.  The surgery will take place at The Huntsman Cancer Institute on the third floor.  Robert will have to stay there for 3-6 days and will be able to have visitors during that time.  We will let you know when he feels ready to start having visitors.  I will be able to stay in his room with him, and plan to do so the first night.  Victoria will be in town at our home with the family, and then my dear friend Deb will take over the house duties on Monday because Victoria will have to go back to work.  We have had so many offers of people asking to help, and we feel so loved and appreciate the willingness of you all.  Our biggest need right now is for prayers.  We have felt peace this past week from the many prayers that have been offered on our behalf, and thank you for that.  We are still hoping for a miracle in the operating room that will allow Robert to keep the full function of his arm, so we are praying for this, but ask for Heavenly Father's will to be done.  We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to see the hand of the Lord working in our daily lives through each one of you.  Thank you for your love and support.  Oh,the official name of the bone cancer is Chondrosarcoma.  We will post the results of the bone scan late tomorrow, and I will be able to give an update every few hours during the surgery because a nurse will be keeping me updated by text.  Amazing! Technology advances certainly have an upside!