Post-op and doing well!

One day post-op and I'm thrilled to report a smooth and complication-free surgery! Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers. You people rock. Here's a little update courtesy of my most fabulous husband, David:

Hey folks -

As most of you know, Sarah went into surgery first thing this morning. Well, that's done, and she is doing well, recovering in her hospital room. Here's the surgery story:

Dr. McCutcheon found and removed tumor tissue on the right side of the pituitary gland, with the characteristics he associates with Cushing's tumors (white, soft tissue vs. darker, rubbery normal pituitary tissue). The tumor was not touching the sinus wall (which is very good!) and the sinus wall was clear of tumor on inspection. He also found and shaved off a small area of suspicious tissue on the left side of the gland (though it did not have those Cushing's tumor characteristics). He estimates that a little over 60% of her pituitary gland remains intact; chances are good that she'll have full pituitary function. There was no CSF leak detected.

While he was at it, the surgeon also cleared out a pocket of gnarly infected goop in her sphenoid sinus, which was trapped behind some scar tissue left from the prior surgeries, and very likely the root of her nasty recurring sinus infections. Goodbye gnarly goop!

This is all great news. Sarah is quite happy at the outcome, and hopeful of being cured. She got what she was wishing for: a careful inspection of the whole gland, removal of anything suspicious, a thorough sinus cleaning, and (very likely) no long-term impact on her pituitary function. Looks like her big gamble might pay off!

Physical recovery from the surgery will take at least a few weeks. We'll be here in Texas until late next week, then recovering back at the rancheroo. We won't know for several months whether Sarah is cured of Cushing's (be patient and hopeful!)

Take care,
David Lowe

Our Family Vacation... Sorta

Tomorrow is the big day: d-day, the moment of truth, the day of reckoning, the appointed hour (er... the appointed day?) or, for the more geeky among you, the day that I undergo a third transsphenoidal pituitary surgery to resect my residual ACTH secreting adenoma. Yep, the gland of oz is getting another trimming!

As most of you know, I've traveled to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas for this surgery. It's a little crazy -- I know -- and a very long way from home but I'm here to see a serious super-hero of a neurosurgeon, one who is among the top in the world for pituitary surgery. I mean he has a wikipedia page. How cool is that?

Anywho, it's been a crazy fun trip so far and I've learned something along the way: if you ever find yourself wondering how to take the bore out of a potentially very boring trip, say across several states to undergo neurosurgery, well folks, I've got the answer: bring your kids. Seriously, we are having such a ridiculous blast of a time. From soaring through the clouds (have I mentioned my kids are born to fly? Sounds cheesy, I know, but man does it get them fired up) and daily swimming at the pool to riding the elevator up and down then back up and then down, it's been one awesome adventure after another. And the fun doesn't stop there-- David's still got a few tricks up his vacation sleevies. He'll be taking them for a good ole fashioned train ride beneath a herd of man-eating sharks and to visit the NASA space center (featuring REAL LIVE SPACE SHIPS OMG OMG), while I spend my days lying in a hospital bed hopped up on narcotics dreaming up my own wacky rocket launches possibly also featuring man-eating sharks (I've heard the drugs here are REALLY groovy).

Oh and in non kid related fun vacation news, I got to meet another Cushie today! I've only met a few others IRL, all in passing at my endocrinologist's office, so this was the first time I've really had the chance to sit down for hours and yak up a storm face to face. It was awesome!

So, yes, so far our decision to make a little vacation out of this round of surgery has been a total blast. Will I still feel that way after I've had my lobotomy, err... I mean pituitary surgery, and am recovering in a hotel room, chiddlers running amok? I'll letcha know.