The results are in, and the winner is...

Well, we met with the surgeon today to find out the final results of the pathology report. The tumour removed from my lung on Feb. 5 was a mature teratoma. The good news is that it is not malignant. It is however an aggressived tumour which thankfully was taken out in an encapsulated form (no loose pieces). To make sure that there are not further issues with stray teratoma cells, I'm being referred to a radiation doctor with testicular and lung specialties. At the next consult, he'll decide if my case warrants a preventative course of radiation treatments, and if so, how many. Hopefully that should be the end of the cancer!
Among other updates, my return to work date has been set back to April 8 (from March 5). The surgeon is pleased with the healing process, but has (re)-prescribed percocet because the pain has just been a little much lately (this is going pretty slowly). We'll keep everybody posted as we get the next round of news March 6 (my consult date with both the oncologist and radiation dr.).

Crystal loves Rockband...

We had the opportunity to invest in a used xbox (I sold my old one & games and went to a used one in the classifieds). We also managed to get a copy of Rockband for Xbox 360 (along with the drums, mic, guitar). The lady selling it also threw in for free Dance Revolution with Dance Pad. As you can see, everybody had a blast!

Heads-up: Pathology results pushed back...

Hi all -

I did not meet with the surgeon after all on Friday. She had a surgery she needed to do during our consult time, not to mention that the pathology results still aren't in. Since it would be mostly a wasted visit, the time was moved to this Wed. I'll post the results as soon as we get them. Thanks again for all the support and prayers - we really appreciate them (prayers especially that the tumour removed would be benign).

Chris is back home...

Hi all -

I'm back home. As Connie mentioned, the surgeon had to go in by hand, so the cut is from shoulder-blade to armpit. I was on percocet and morphine (yes, both at the same time!), but am just now on the percocet. When the surgeon got to the spot, she found that it was encapsulated, and was able to remove the tumour intact (without breaking it and fear of releasing more cells into the body). We're just waiting for the histology report to come back (stick it under a microscope) to find out what it is. So far at this point, the surgeon thinks it just benign tumour cell growth, but the histology will confirm that.
It's good to be back home, and have about a month to recover. Apparently I'm doing better than our T.V. downstairs though... While I was in hospital, Greg was watching the T.V. downstairs when it may have self-destructed (and possibly caught on fire, we understand there was some smoke...). We're not surprised; the t.v. was acting a little funny the last few weeks 8(.

Anyways, thanks so much for all of the support and prayers - it's so appreciated!

Chris' Surgery

Chris had his surgery on Thursday (Feb. 5th), and is currently recovering in St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton. He is doing exceptionally well as of Friday.
The surgery was a success, with the surgeon removing the spot intact, although she did have to make a cut and remove by hand instead of with videocamera as hoped.
Because Chris was cut, he needed an epidural, and will need a few more days than expected in the hospital. They expect to remove the chest tube & epidural today (Sat.) or tomorrow and he will need to be monitored for at least 24 hours after the removal to assess his pain medication requirements for when he is released.
This means the earliest he could be released is Sunday, but I think it will be more like Monday.

Thank you everyone for all the support & prayers :-)

Crystal's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Crystal's Birthday on Sun. (it's Feb. 4). One of Conn's co-workers volunteered to make this bear-care for Crystal, really sweet (literally!). Crystal opening some of her presents. Thanks so much to everybody!