Dec. 27 Update #2

Mom looked better this morning...more of her color back and less swelling in her face although they are still pumping in alot of fluids since she already had so much fluid before the surgery and it needs to be replaced for now.My dad signed the consent form around noon to put a catheter in near her heart as a preventive measure so they can monitor it more (due to her mild heart attack on Oct. 31). After putting in the catheter, the x-ray done showed it was placed correctly and doing the job.She is well sedated, but they are waking her up every 4 hours while she has the breathing tube down her throat which we heard she tried to pull out this morning. Dave (my husband) is picking up my sister Lisa around 4:30pm so hopefully they'll be here around 5pm. It was a blessing that she was able to book a flight last night for a reasonable price. Please pray for my dad as he travels back to DE this evening so that he can get his chickens ready to be taken out on Monday. We got some rest last night but still not enough so we pray he will be alert and be at peace on his drive home alone. He will not be getting another flock of chickens in until summer (which was already planned) so that is another blessing so he will not have to deal with his chicken houses while mom is recovering.As mentioned before, it was such a blessing last night to have her respond to us by nodding, squeezing our hands, and even winking. We continued to receive positive reports this morning so that was encouraging. The cancer started as ovarian cancer and spread...I can't remember all the areas...it was so much to take in last night, but I believe there was a spot on her diaphragm which may explain the coughing she was having. It is expected that my mom will have a port in her abdomen where she will receive chemo...it hasn't been thoroughly discussed yet but a nurse on the floor where mom was the 1st night shared that is likely what will be done. Mom will go back to that floor for recovery and we know she will get such awesome care after seeing the outstanding job the nurses did on Wed. and Thurs. Again, I must say the entire staff here at Hopkins is absolutely amazing...I could go on and on about all the things they have done and said to make this experience the best it can be. That's all for now. I can't thank you enough for all your thoughts and prayers!!!