Surgery scheduled

Surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, March 8. Elizabeth will have an AM admit and the surgery will be sometime in the afternoon. The appointment with Dr. Stein went very well. He is leaning towards thinking that he will be able to get good margins around the tumor. There is a possibility that the tumor is wrapped around the veins and arteries supplying the small intestine. The CT is unclear on this issue. If it is wrapped around the blood supply, he will have to first cut the tumor in half and then separate it from the vessels. This would not be ideal, because it would surely leave microscopic disease.
Given that her tumors tend to grow out and push things out of the way, it is most likely going to be a free mass that can be removed completely. That is what we are praying for now.
Elizabeth is actual quite excited about the surgery and her mood has improved now that she has a date to get that stupid tumor out. She even talked Dr. Stein into foregoing the NG tube with the "go lightly" before surgery. That was no fun last time!! Instead she will "clean out" with some good dosing of Miralax next Tuesday at home. Probably need to start a small dose on Monday, but it is far better than the NG tube before surgery. She will still get all the tubes during and after surgery and have to deal with that, but they are usually short lived and by the time the anesthesia wears off, she is taking them out.
Stay will most likely be about 5 days at Children's.

Till there is more news or just a need to vent...
Thanks for looking in on how Elizabeth is doing.
Dad