Breast reconstruction surgery

Today I'm thankful for...
Family being there for both my wife and me
Knowing that my kids are safe
The expert hospital staff and doctors
My wife's incredible strength

Wow, where do I start? I'm sitting here in the hotel room near the UCSF cancer hospital watching my very strong wife recover from surgery. As I look at my watch, it has been 5 hours since she was wheeled out of surgery and into the recovery room of the Mt. Zion's cancer hospital, where she had her breast implant exchange surgery this morning. She has been resting comfortable most of these five hours, only waking to get a quick drink before nodding back off into dreamland. The surgery to take out the expanders that the plastic surgeons placed back in November and place silicon implants ( and no she didn't get the DD size that was so widely discussed), lasted a little over 4.5 hours and the surgeon said that she performed "as well as expected" (I've never understood that one? Is that good, or did he expect her to do really poorly, and she barely passed?) I know that Lulu's getting the chance to catch up on that most need rest that you don't always get when you have four active kids? I know that she is having a moderate amount of post surgical pain though, because she had asked the recovery nurse for pain medication during one of her momentary alert periods. I know that I'm glad that she is sleeping off the anesthesia, and hopefully when she fully recovers, she will feel better? The hospital released Lulu at 4 PM because they felt that she was doing so well, and we brought her groggy body to the hotel to rest for the night. I'm sure that she will be thinking about her return home tomorrow early, so see can be in her own bed, and near the kids?

I have had four great helpers caring for Lulu and our kids. Lulu sister, Doris, could take time to fly here to be with her younger sister and my sister Lori drove in from a couple hours away to assist in the emotional support. On the home front we have my aunt, Dianne, my Mom, and Lulu's Mom staying in Reno to care for our kids. It's so nice to know that the boys and baby girl are well taken care of. The piece of mind knowing that neither Lulu and I have to worry about the kids getting feed, dropped off at school, or comforted at night, has been so very helpful during this stressful time. Also, knowing you have been there thinking about Lulu and praying for her successful surgery and recovery
from this dreadful disease, is a great part of her recovery. I know that Lulu sees this surgery as a step in the process of beating breast cancer, and she has just moving one step closer to the finish line.

I just looked over at the pretty woman that I luckily get to share my life with, and she opened one eye to greet me with an "I love you" look. You know the kind that you don't need words for? As I sit here writing this I ponder all that Lulu has indured to this point in time, and I know the I have one determined wife! I'm so relieved to see her get past this surgery.