Port Surgery Day

Today was the first day to the start of a long road ahead. Jimmy had his surgery this morning to have his port put in and his bone marrow test. I was nervous of course, but Jimmy was cool as a cucumber about the whole thing, he wasn't concerned at all...especially after having Valium before they wheeled him into surgery. Wow, did that have some kind of affect on him, he was a riot! Really wish I had video of the entire scene because I would have had some good material to tuck away for future use. (like when he referred to the pacemaker opening on his gown as his "nipple pocket") After a good 30 minutes of saying all kinds of crazy things, he started cracking himself up and getting the giggles. Everyone knows Jimmy is funny, but this was on a whole other level.

His port surgery went well, although he did have pain after he woke up and they had to give him extra pain medication, which meant it took longer for him to leave recovery. Hearing that he was in pain after surgery and I couldn't see him is such a helpless feeling. Didn't they know that was my son in there hurting? He continues to have some pain, but it's not too bad. He's home in his own surroundings and comfortable with our little Charlie by his side.

The situation became even more real to me today once it hit me that the port is attached to his heart, and I can now see it underneath the skin on his chest. I've been on the forefront of every bit of information, every test, scan, and every dr appt, but today was the day it really hit me that we are doing this. They aren't going to call me and say "oops, sorry Ms Jenks, we made a mistake, your son is just fine," that scenario is long past happening. They wouldn't do surgery and insert a foreign object into my son's heart unless it was serious.

So, we are going to go down this path of chemo and radiation; throwing up, losing hair, extreme fatigue...but we will do it together just like we have for 17 years, me and Jimmy, two peas in a pod. Except that now, we have someone else who walks the path with us, and He is stronger than anything that gets thrown our way. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that God hears all the people praying for Jimmy every day.

We did get some good news today, the CT scan came back negative for the cancer spreading to his abdomin. So, we are just waiting to find out about the bone marrow test, we will know by 4pm tomorrow. Thank you for continuing to pray for my son.