Hello friends and family!
I realize that you’ve been waiting for an update on Richard and I apologize for the tardiness of this update.
I’m writing from the Cariothoracic ICU at the Ronald Regan/UCLA hospital. Richard has been here since getting out of surgery on Tuesday and will be here until at least tomorrow.
First things first: Surgery went really well. The surgeon reported that all went as planned in regards to removing the tumor and esophagus, as well as reconstructing the stomach to come up and meet the remainder of the esophagus at the base of his neck. She (the
surgeon) did let us know that the tumor had a lot of scar tissue on it (as a remnant from the radiation treatments), so at times it was hard to determine where the tumor (that contained scar tissue) ended and where the regular scar tissue (w/out any tumor) began. She told us that there’s no reason to believe that all of the tumor wasn’t removed, but that the final pathology report would answer that question. SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT THE TUMOR WAS COMPLETELY REMOVED.
There was, however, a setback during surgery. Apparently, Richard aspirated during surgery, which caused some of his stomach contents to go into his lungs. The surgical team immediately took a camera down into the lungs and suctioned what stomach debris they found.
Unfortunately, because this took place, it was necessary to put him on a respirator, which he’s been on since getting out of surgery. This is mainly because they want to continue to have access to his lungs for cleaning purposes. They cleaned the lungs again this morning and will determine tomorrow morning if the lungs look clean enough to take him off the respirator. The doctor’s are keeping a keen eye out for any infection, which has a higher percentage of occurring because of the fact that he aspirated.
So, up until now, Richard has been unconscience. He’s responding to our voices and to commands such as, “squeeze my hand or move your toes”, which helps the nurses determine that his reflexes are fine.
The doctor has told us that there’s a minimal chance that he’ll remember any of this time b/c he’s so heavily sedated.
It’s been great to see the medical team do what they do best. Richard has had 5 nurses over the last 36 hours, and all have been incredible,
as well as the surgical & pain unit staff. They are incredibly
pro-active and it has given us a great deal of peace to know that Jesus is doing a supernatural healing as well as allowing the medical team to facilitate the natural healing.
I hope to send out another update once Richard is awake and we have an idea as to the next steps of recovery. Stay tuned…
THANKS SO MUCH for all your prayers, inquiries, visits, offers to help, phone calls and e-mails. Your support has been amazing and I’m so thankful to have you in our lives. Please keep ’em coming!
All my love and appreciation!!
Maria Abeyta
310-254-8578 cell