Good evening everyone,

It's been about 48 hours since Graeme's surgery and I can't believe how well he is doing. I fully expected him to be basically unconscious for a couple days but he's been out of bed and gone for a few walks around the floor!

• The surgery revealed some new information. Apparently, his common bile duct had a number of gall stones in it. This is likely what blocked up the pancreas and caused the pancreatitis. This is very good news! With the gall bladder removed, we should never have to go through this again.
• There was infection in the pseudocyst. Thank goodness for broad spectrum antibiotics because they kept the infection at bay long enough for the cyst to form sufficiently for the surgery to take place. They bought us some time and now the infection is being treated with more specific antibiotics.
• 4 litres of fluid and tissue was removed from the pseudocyst! Think of two big bottles of pop inside your abdomen. It's no wonder Graeme was getting more and more uncomfortable.
• A lot of the work they did during the surgery involved Graeme's stomach so he is still being fed by IV (TPN) and can't take anything orally yet. Except ice chips :-)
• Graeme has a pain pump so he can give himself a little dose of Dilaudid when he needs it.
• We switched rooms again. We have been moved to the abdominal surgery wing so the room is now 6 North Room 15 Bed 2. You can still reach us by calling 1-519-749-4211 and asking for Graeme. The logistics of the room have been sorted out and Graeme can get to the phone without getting up so please feel free to call.

Other than all the tubes going in and out, Graeme is doing very well. There seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel which makes a couple more weeks in the hospital much easier to take.

Thanks to everyone for their continued support!

Gail