Feeling Great!

Hey everyone. Let me first say THANKS so much for all the amazing support you've given me and my family over the last few days. We are blessed to have the family and friends we have and your messages, prayers, emails, texts, etc really mean a lot to me. We had a nice caravan of people here in Houston to support us - between my family and Shana's family, and I hope they all know how much it meant to have you all here. I also need to say thanks to the people who have been waiting on me hand and foot for the last few days - Shana, Mom, Dad, Matt and Liz...I love you guys so much.

The surgery was pretty much the easiest thing I've ever done. I remember being wheeled away from my family, telling them all I love them and then joking around with the anesthesiologistas like 100 people worked around me to get the operating room ready. My next memory, after that is waking up in the ICU with my family around telling me how well things went (I had no idea what they were talking about). The next few days were tuff, as they are on anyone that has open heart surgery, but now, five days later, I am ready to get out of the hospital and start getting ready for the next step. The pain is still there, but it's amazing how in 2-3 days it went from horrible (like keeping me from walking, getting up, etc) to just an annoyance. Just like my last surgery, it took them a day or two to figure out how to treat my pain, and once they got it under control things got MUCH better for me!

I am excited that the surgery was such a success. It feels really strange to sit here and know that this tumor, that's changed my life so significantly, is no longer in my heart. It hasn't really sunk in yet, I don't think. I am so relieved Dr. Reardon was able to remove 100% of it, and get clean margins, as I think that's very important moving forward. I am very excited about getting the pathology report on the tumor...we were told that most of it looked dead, but the question is how much. If it's 100% dead that means my treatment (chemo and WillPower!) is dominating this cancer, and can be an indicator as to how the treatment has worked in the other parts of my body this cancer has impacted. Dr. Ravi told us, as we left his office back in October, "if it's 100% dead, we will have something to celebrate". Even if it's 95% dead, I think that will be a huge victory.

I am not sure what to think about the sternum not coming out...we were told by every oncologist we've consulted with over the last 14 months that it would need to come out. I am happy to hear that it looked good, but part of me wonders if it will have to come out eventually anyway. We will have to go back to Dr. Ravi on that, but I think it's a minor issue at this point considering there are two other known spots where the cancer is/was (spine and rib) and those bones are still there. I am under the impression, however, that to go for a cure would include removing these at some point, which would include my sternum.

I have to say thanks as well to the surgeons, doctors, nurses, PCA's, etc at Methodist hospital. For the most part, they have all been wonderful to us. We've met some very caring medical professionals here and are very thankful for them. I will have a lot to post about in the next week or so and once my mind clears up a little and I get out of the hospital I think my thoughts will be much clearer!

Thanks again for all the support - I couldn't do this without my family and friends. I am working on responding to everyone in the next couple days (I hope you all know I can't respond to the comments section in this blog or I would respond to every one...but I do read them, multiple times!).

Still Recovering

Will's first night in ICU was a stressful one to say the least. In ICU there are six beds and three nurses constantly taking care of six patients. As to be expected, Will was in a lot of pain. The pain that he experienced the first night was the same pain he had the night he had the pericardial window done. Unfortunately, we were not able to sleep over night with him in ICU, so we were not there to console him. That is the hardest thing about being a loved one with someone in the hospital. You want him to always have a familiar face around him. The nurses in ICU are amazing! We got the best care there. Yesterday, Will was moved from ICU to a private room. This facility mostly has private rooms. He has been in a great deal of pain since coming out of surgery. The night he came out of surgery, they had to move him because they needed to change his sheets on his bed. Will said that the pain was excruciating when they moved him to change his bed. ICU nurses seemed to know how to alleviate some of the pain. Thank God, Team McCaffrey is here. With the collaborative effort from knowledgeable nurses in our family, and the relentless, "We aren't taking No for an answer" attitude, they are now giving him a narcotic that allows him to be comfortable. Last night, Will predominantly slept in his chair, and this morning he wanted to move from the chair to the bed. It is heart wrenching to hear the person that you love the most say, "I am going to die from this pain." We immediately got the nurse's attention, and she brought him some more pain meds. He is now back to sleep.

Even though, he really has no idea what day or time it is, I know that he is thinking (subconsciously ) about his Nana's house. Will's family has a tradition every Christmas Eve that they go to his Nana's house. This will be the first year in thirty years that Will be missing it. Even though, he will be there in spirit, it is just not the same. He just absolutely adores his Nana.

Will and I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday and a fantastic New Year. In the midst of opening Christmas presents, drinking Egg Nog, and having a festive dinner, please remember to tell each other how much you love each other. I have been given the best Christmas gift EVER!

Thank you again for all of the prayers, thoughts, and love being sent our way!

Final Update

I am in the waiting room for 8:30 to come around because that will be the last time that we will be able to see Will tonight. I am so proud of him. When Liz, his sister, calls him Superman, or other people say that Will is Superhuman, they ain't kidding. He looks great, but he is in a great deal of pain. He has an incision from the middle part of his top chest to right above his navel. He is doing so well (considering his situation). He is truly a fighter. The nurses are scrambling around the other patients, and Will is just doing his own thing. They had to put a pace maker on him because his heartbeat went down to 39, 50 is where they want him. At one point, they thought he was anemic, but once again Will did a "Willpowerism," and he bounced back from that, so at this point, they are not going to give him blood. Dr. Reardon has visited him twice since surgery, so when I say that he is in good hands, he is in the BEST hands. This place is unbelievable! I can't say enough good things about this place. He drank some grape juice when I was in the ICU with him.

Thanks again to everyone for EVERYTHING that you have done for us. We wouldn't be where we are right now if it wasn't for your constant support. We hope that you have a great holiday and wonderful New Year... bring on 2010!

Got To See Him

We were all taken into ICU about fifteen minutes ago. Initially, we were all expecting the worst, but he looked great!

His nurse's name is Tracy, and her bedside manners are amazing. Immediately, we fell in love with his nurse. She gave us a tour of the many "lines" that he is connected to, and he is connected to a lot. She also told us about their strict visiting hours, but instead of just stating them, she also gave an explanations for each.

At this time, we are only allowed to visit him one at a time. Our spirits are lifted, and we are so grateful for the way they take care of us, and the way they are taking care of Will. We are in good hands at Methodist Hospital.

Simply, thank you!

Surgery is Done

One of the nurse's assistants asked for the McCaffrey family at 10:45. We were very nervous because I immediately thought something went wrong. The nursing assistant would not tell us anything. All she said was that we had to wait to get into the ICU unit, and a nurse will tell us information. It seemed like an endless walk to ICU even though it is only 30 yards away from where we were waiting. On the other side of the door was Dr. Reardon. He gave us the best news. The tumor was out, and surgery was done. It was even better when he told us that they didn't take the manubrium out because they didn't need to. The manubrium looked too good for it to be taken out. He said that it will take an hour for them to get him out of OR to ICU. I have truly received the best Christmas present EVER! The number of prayers that we have received is the number of "Thank You"s I have for each and every one of you. You have lifted his spirits up! Go Willpower!

9:30 Update

Surgical Liaison just told us that the tumor is out, and they sent the tumor to Pathology. Everything is going well in the operating room.

Surgery Day

Will had a restless night as to be expected. He has to be one of the strongest people on earth. As usual, he was holding his whole family up as he was being "wheeled" into surgery. It was a tearful "Good Luck", but we know he will be fine. We haven't had any updates, but he entered surgery around 6:45 Texas time, 7:45 Syracuse time. We have such a huge support (Bill, Carol, Matt, Liz, Aunt Kate, Sue, Joan, Michelle, Ryan, and Brooke) in this hospital, but we know that the circle of support of which YOU are a part is even larger. Thank you again for all of he prayers, love, and support! I know the reason why Will is doing so well is because of YOU! We love you. We will continue to update you as information comes to us. GO WILLPOWER!

The Countdown Begins

We got to Houston yesterday after a long, long drive (1700 miles, 25 hours driving) but we're here and after all my pre-op stuff today I'm ready as I am going to be for surgery tomorrow. Our condo is really nice and is only like 1 mile from the medical center so it's working out really well.

In our pre-op discussion with one of the doctors at Methodist I learned two things about the surgery that kind of freak me out. First, he said that depending on the exact location of the tumor, Dr. Reardon might decide to do an "auto-transplant" which gives him greater access to my heart. This consists of literally removing my heart from my chest and repairing it outside my body, then putting it back in. I have heard about this before and how it is used with tumor resection but always assumed that because of the location of the tumor it wouldn't be needed in my case. Dr. Reardon never mentioned it, so it's possible that it's not an option, but the doctor we met with today said that once he is able to see it, Dr. Reardon would make that decision an if he felt he could do a better job using that method, he would do it. It's really weird to think about that. I don't think it will be needed, but I could be wrong. I think this doctor just wanted to be sure to cover everything that could possibly happen. The other thing that really freaks me out is the possibility of "recall". I've never heard of this, and am hoping that it doesn't happen to me, but the doctor said that many (didn't really go into what "many" meant, but we are assuming it's a low percentage) cardiac patients actually wake up during the procedure to the point where they can hear the surgeon talking and feel what he is doing (not pain, but sensation) and will actually remember this when you wake up. He said that you basically become conscious but can't move, communicate or feel pain. He said that if it happens, not to worry, I wouldn't feel pain, but wanted me to be prepared for it. That's pretty scary - I really hope that doesn't happen and like the auto-transplant, think the likelihood is low.

Really, the two things that we will be waiting to hear is how much of the tumor they are able to remove, and how much of it contains "living" cancer cells. We've never had this conversation with Dr. Reardon, but we had it with the surgeon in Boston, and are under the impression that there is a high-likelihood that he will be able to remove 100% of the tumor because of it's location and the fact it's only attached to one wall of the atrium. We will know right away how much of the tumor he is able to remove. They will test the tumor to see how much of it consists of living cancer cells, and according to Dr. Ravi, if the tumor comes out 100% dead, it's a VERY good sign for my long term prognosis. He cautioned us that the chances of this are low, but given that the tumor hasn't changed size in a long time, it's a possibility. We won't know the results of that test for about a week (maybe longer because of the holiday), so we will be anxiously awaiting those results.

I am pretty excited about getting this done and after a week or so, the worst should be behind me. The doctor said they'd give my family updates every two hours once the surgery starts (he said that it should take all day, but we are guessing that it will be done by 1 or 2 pm) and Shana will updating the blog. Thanks for checking, thanks for all the prayers, thanks for all the emails/texts/calls and I look forward to updating again once I am able to lift a laptop.