My amazing sister in law sent a terrific article from her local paper on how workers deal with their cancer on their jobs. From the article:

"My work is one of the main things that gives me a sense of purpose," said Scotto, 45. "You don't want to focus on cancer 24/7. That will kill you."

You can read it here.

Wow, it's been a hell of a weekend. Thank you to everyone who provided such wonderful & supportive comments. Holly is doing well. She has gone for a couple of walks around hospital. She is in a bit of pain, but still on the epidural. She is also hitting the vitamin M once in a while. So that helps. Once again, we can't thank our friends, family and strangers alike for all of the kinds words of wisdom & support that you have sent our way. We'll get through this with you.

This picture was too priceless not to post. It is about as angry as Holly can look.

Ah, chemo brain. The New York Times has a good article on it today.

J-Day, sounds better than S-Day or Surgery Day. And I figure she is getting a J-Pouch, so its kind of appropriate. This is where I'll be live blogging. All times are PST. 5:45 - I wake up. I had the most bizarre dream that Katie Couric came to counsel me. 6:10 - Despite my protests and the fact that she can't eat or drink due to the surgery prep, Holly has made me a latte and a veggie breakfast sandwich. My favorite. She is calm, cool and collected. I'm a mess. 6:15 - She is taking the dog for a walk. Since there isn't wifi in the hospital, I should probably sign up for Twittr, but I think that it is such a goofy service. Plus, I'm not going to know anything so my entries would be like "still at starbucks - 4th latte, a venti". No one cares about my latte binge. 6:15 - The kids are being pretty cool. They are too young to really grasp what is going on. They know that Holly will be in the hospital for a week. They know that she has cancer and needs an operation. They are freaked when they think about it, but are cool right now. 7:00 - Can't have a dirty house. Holly is cleaning. It is a great escape. 7:00 - Folsom Prison Blues makes a great pre-surgery soundtrack. ~All times are rough guesstimates based on when pictures were taken and memory. 9:45 – Hug kids, head to hospital 9:55 – We have to park in another zip code. MRI patients get preferred parking. People getting their stomach cut open and their colon rebuilt need the exercise to tire them out for the surgery.

10:00 – We were told to be at the surgery center at 10. Check in. Wait at the bar, wait at the bar.

I'm surprised that people would need this calendar, but I guess people do. I've talked with people that had their surgery 10+ years ago and they still remember the date like it was yesterday. I guess it is like giving birth. 10:25 – Holly is taken to the prep room. I’m told to wait 30 – 45 minutes while she is prepped. Longest 30 min of my life.

I'm amazed that in this day and age that a.) people still smoke and b.) that there would be a smoking area at a hospital and c.) that there are actually health care workers smoking in it. Good for business I suppose. 11:00 – I get called back. Holly is wearing awesome stockings and the pharmaceutical version of the Reebok pump sneaker. Coupled with the gown, it is shocking that Milan, Paris or NYC aren’t blowing up my phone. The picture I took is awful and Holly would kill me if I posted it. Sally, our admission nurse, is great. A wonderful sense of humor and lightening fast on the old green screen. 11:40 – Vitamin V for valium. 11:45 – Holly’s sister Carrie shows up.

12:00 – We’re told that there is a 30 – 45 minute back up. We kind of expected this, but it is a great chance to spend some more time together. 12:45 – A nurse comes to take us away. I wish that I could recall his name. He was really nice. 12:50 – There isn’t anything that I can do here and I don’t want to spend a sunny, 90 degree day in a surgery waiting room. I meet some friends for lunch. It was actually a great break and they were wonderful in getting my mind off of the events of the day. 3:00 – Arrive back at the hospital. Holly’s dad is here. 3:45 – Dr. Youn comes out and tells us that the surgery was successful in removing the tumor. There was no other cancer visible. No spreading anywhere!!!! 3:45:01 – A huge sigh of relief and an ecstatic smile. I’m now on cloud nine. We are told that it will be about an hour to an hour and a half in recovery and that they will bring her through the waiting room. 3:50 – Phone calls begin to give everyone the good news 4:31 – Good Sam has a cool robot the delivers drugs around the hospital. I tried taking a picture with it and was told that photography isn’t allowed in the hospital. I couldn’t get a great shot, so I obliged.

4:55 – Holly comes out of post-op. Giddy from all of the anesthesia and in rare form humor wise. She was in excellent spirits all things considered. Many kisses, hugs & smiles.

5:00 – Up in her room. More kisses, hugs & smiles. The anesthesia buzz is a fun one. She is doing great for now and actually kicked me out to go pick up the kids at a birthday party. 8:40 – Having a microwave meal and a beer and guarantee that I’ll be asleep in 15 minutes. Thank you to everyone for your emails and support. It means the world to us.

This is our surgery admission bracelet. I guess, like Disney, if you don't have it, you can't go on the ride. If she loses it, the hospital charges us $400.

Well, I was going to be able to offer up to the minute posts on how things are going. Unfortunately, the hospital doesn't have wi-fi, so updates will be sporadic at best.

As far as meetings go, especially to discuss getting your whole stomach cut open and 8 - 10 cm cut out of your colon, todays final prep for Friday's surgery went pretty well. I think that I've said it before, but I'll say it again, we really like our surgeon. He has patience (get it, it's a doctor joke), he is confident, he is extremely calming and, at least seems to be, a generally all round good guy. He describes this operation in the same manner that you or I would discuss baking chocolate chip cookies. Oh, we'll just cut open your stomach, cut 8 cm out of your colon, reroute your small intestine out the side wall, throe in a dash of salt and bake at 350 for 8 minutes and viola, you're good as new. First off, I'm still amazed at what science can do for the human body. The fact that even 15 years ago this was more or less a death sentence and now they just cut you open and move some things around and put some things back is a little kooky to me and I grew up with a mom who worked in the local hospital. Secondly, Dr. Youn's cool demeanor is just so solid. He is like the James Bond of colo-rectal surgery. I know that there is a joke there somewhere and given enough time I'll come up with it. I suppose that if I've done this a couple of hundred times that I would have an equal coolness, but it is still really amazing to see. My notes from the meeting: - Once gas and liquid are passed to the bag, then she can drink liquids again. Thankfully, Starbucks is across the street from the hospital. Physically, I'm not sure it's the best thing, but mentally, I know that she will need it. - Our kids think that farting into a bag is the greatest thing ever and can't wait to try on their own. - Gum, sour candy and moving around trick the digestive system into working faster. These are all good things. - Orbit Mint Mojito is the best gum on the market right now. It has nothing to do with anything, but it is really good stuff. Almost like a mojito. - Getting addicted to morphine would be bad - After the first day of cutting and stapling, he wants her moving around. The Bay to Breakers is right around the corner, but I think that would be pushing it. - After a few days, she can eat soft solid food like pasta, rice, fish. After 2 weeks, she can eat pretty much anything. This is contrary to what we've heard from other people and it turns out that everyones digestive system is different and will react differently to all foods. - After 6 weeks we get to go through it again to put Holly Wolly back together again. - Did you know? That tumors grow much faster in people under the age of 50? Get checked out. - Even though the surgery is supposed to take 3 hours, Dr. Youn said that on Fridays there are always back ups, there will be at least an hour of prep and an hour of doing something afterwards and strongly suggested that I didn't hang around in the waiting room and slowly go insane. Mmm, 5 - 6 hours on a nice day with nothing to do. I probably shouldn't go golfing either. - We closed the meeting with something really deep. Even though there is about a 6 week recovery process, we are stuck with cancer for the rest of our lives. Even after the 5 year waiting period. Holly will always be a cancer survivor. She will always be willing to talk about it and will probably be part of a network that helps young women in the same situation that we are in now. These will be the constant reminders. - The regular colonscopies will serve as a reminder less we forget.

This is probably the last picture that I'll get of Holly's belly prior to surgery. The dot and the patch are where the ileostomy will be. The incision will go from about 3 inches above her belly button to the top of her pubic bone. She loves to wear bikinis. The scar won't stop her and she has already said that she will wear the scars as a badge of pride and a reminder of this fight. Hopefully, if someone sees them, they will be encouraged to get checked out.

We had a great (as far as things go) meeting with our surgeon, Dr. Youn, today. While I can't say that we are the first people to be joking around about a surgery of this magnitude, it is refreshing to know that we can still laugh about the situation. Things turned very ugly though, when Holly was told that her last latte for at least a week is going to have to be this coming Thursday. That and she won't be able to drive for a month. Something about painkillers and heavy machinery. Photo by Michael B.K. Johnson