Long Day

The surgery was this afternoon, and now the biggest part is over. I keep being told to think of this in steps, and it'll be better that way. For now, all she needs to do is rest and get better.

The surgery was delayed because someone screwed up and forgot to do some sort of scan at the pre-op. They had to do it right before, and one everything was figured out, the surgery went on.

It took three hours, even though we were told it would take as long as four or five hours. Everything went perfectly. The surgeon was able to get all of the visable tumor out, and a scan just has to confirm if any cells remain. If it's cancer, it's a "low grade", meaning that it's either non-threatening, or hardly threatening. Of course, the biopsy has to confirm this first. They made the cut below her hairline, so they didn't need to get rid of any hair at all, which I think will make her happy.

We got to see her for only two minutes, and I screwed up those two minutes. She really wasn't as bad-looking as I assumed she would be. The cut was long and very fresh-looking (I don't know how else to describe it). We all held her hands and told her that we were here, and that she did great. She never opened her eyes or spoke, but she nodded. She nodded when they asked if she was in pain. On the side I stood on, my mom had a line into her neck as an alternative to an IV during surgery. It wasn't the incision that bothered me - when I saw that line in her neck, I practically fainted. I guess it wasn't a complete faint because I didn't fall over, but I certainly couldn't see or hear or stand up anymore. The nurse got really pissed when I said I felt faint. "That's exactly why we don't usually let people in here." Sorry lady, but I wanted to see my mother, who just had brain surgery. Screw off. She made us leave a little sooner that we would've had to.

Tomorrow we're going to see her in the morning. I hope I can talk to her... I really want her to know that I miss her and she did such a good job. I hope she's not in pain. I hope she's finally getting some sleep right now.