Update on Angela's Surgery

Family and Friends -

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement today and over the last few days. Angela's surgery this morning to remove her thyroid was very successful and her recovery is going very well. The doctor said that her thyroiditis caused the gland to be more interwoven into surrounding tissue, which made the surgery a bit longer, but there are no problems associated with it. He was able to do the surgery endoscopically (with a camera) so the incision was much smaller than a traditional thyroidectomy (I just wanted to use that word).

So after a 12+ hour day (left the house at 5am, returned at 5pm), here are our praises and requests:

Praises:

• The surgery was successful and there were no complications
• There appears to be no damage to the vocal chords or parathyroid glands
• The anesthesiologist was able to find a good balance of meds to help keep her from being too ill (was a big concern after previous surgeries)
• She appears very stable and has been resting very well
• There are no obvious signals of concern or worry about the surrounding lymph nodes

Requests:

• That Angela would continue to rest well and begin to hold down more food and liquids (she's not been violently ill, but has been sick a couple times)
• That the Calcium supplements would be quickly absorbed into her body to prevent any serious problems
• That the incision would heal well with no bleeding, swelling, or constriction of her windpipe
• That the pathology would come back benign for both the thyroid gland (removed) and the surrounding lymph nodes/glands (not removed)
• That the endocrinologist will be able to find the right balance of hormone replacement (to occur in about 2 weeks)

Again - thanks for the encouragement and prayers. Angela's Dad ("Granddad") did an amazing job with the girls today, and even got them both to sleep 2 hours at the same time for naps!!

Peace,

Danny

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)