Colon Blow Live

Bryan's robot colon surgery is today. I'll be posting live updates here, so check back again for news as the day goes on. It's gonna be a long day.

Hi, it’s me. It’s about 11:20 a.m. and I finally have time to sit down and write an update. I think everyone here knows the back story, but just in case you’re new, you can catch up on the cancer situation HERE.

10:15 a.m. (approximately) Surgery Started

I just got a call from the surgical nurse that surgery started about 10:15 this morning, and so far Bryan’s doing great. I was with him in the pre-op room until they wheeled him away around 9:30.

Off he goes. One of us may have been a little choked up (it was me).

Because we live so close to the hospital, I’m hanging out at home today. Thomas is home on Spring Break, Ruthie has been in and out (no class today), and my friend Alecia is hanging out with me.

If you care to participate in a nonsense Distraction Chat about what your custom t-shirt would say, you can do that here:

We checked in to surgery around 7:30 this morning, and about 7:45 they took him back to pre-op alone, but said I’d be able to join him later. Fortunately Substack released the Notes feature at the exact moment I was looking for a distraction, so I’ve already been down that rabbit hole. Notes is amazing and Twitter can suck it. What I love most about it (so far) is that there is a Home/General tab and a Subscribed tab, so I can read Notes from people I’m already connected to in a separate space from the public feed.

But my commentary on Notes is not why we’re all here.

Check back for updates throughout the day.

This is a major surgery (“we have a lot to get done”), and I was told it could go on for 6-7 hours. The nurse plans to call me every couple of hours with an update, so be sure to come back to this post to see those updates.

Leave a comment for Bryan, and I’ll be sure to read them out loud when he’s awake and coherent this evening.

I will sign off this update with a story that all who know Bryan will appreciate:

While in the pre-op room, many doctors and nurses came through to check in, introduce themselves, and ask questions related to their role during surgery. We met the main surgeon (again), her two resident surgeons, three nurses, and the anesthesiologist.

One of the resident surgeons asked Bryan if he had any questions.

“Yes!” Bryan said emphatically. “What’s the model of the robot??”

“Wow,” he said. “Nobody’s ever asked that question."

I mean, is that *so Bryan* or what? 😂 😂 😂

After the doctor left the room Bryan asked me if I wrote down what he said, and I was like, Did you just meet me today or something?

The robot is a Davinci xi by Intuitive.

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2:00 p.m. Update

Just got a call that was pretty uneventful, which is fantastic. We like uneventful. The robot is still roboting and “Bryan is doing great,” she said. “We’ll be a couple more hours at least.”

“Any complications?” I asked, just to be explicit.

“Nope, he’s doing great!”

She sounded convincing, so assuming she’s not the World’s Greatest Actor, I’ll take her word for it.

Here’s a short video clip we recorded on our way to the hospital this morning (wait for it…).

Thanks for all your comments so far — keep ‘em coming! I’ll make sure he hears them tonight.

Ciao for now.

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3:30 p.m. Update

The surgeon called — and I can’t be certain, but I’m pretty sure she called from the operating room *while operating a robot* — to let me know they were in the process of closing him up. Everything went as expected with no surprises, and the tissue has been sent to the lab for a final pathology report.

The kids and I will be able to see Bryan in a couple hours once he’s out of recovery and settled into a room.

Bryan’s reflection while checking in this morning.

Thank you all for prayers, healing vibes, jokes, and thoughts.

I’ll post again when we get to see him.

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6:15 p.m. Update

I still haven’t heard from anyone about visiting Bryan, so I called the hospital a minute ago. They said he hasn’t been given a room yet, and it may be another hour.

Meanwhile I tried ordering dinner using the Uber Eats gift card my sweet coworkers gave me and I couldn’t figure the damn thing out. It was converted to Uber Cash, but Uber Cash was not a payment option. I hate it when convenient technology becomes inconvenient.

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7:30 p.m. Final Update

What a long day! Thomas and I were able to see him around 7:30 this evening. He was pretty groggy, but not in any pain yet (yay drugs!). His lower back was sore from laying on his back all day, so we tilted his bed up a little and added some pillows under one side for support.

Met the nurses and attending night doctor — all is looking good. Tomorrow he’ll be up and walking around, but for now he demands to be spoon fed ice chips and I don’t mind.

Thanks for following along. I read your comments and posted his responses. ☺️

Proof of life.

This is my last update for today — Thomas and I are home again, and I’m heading to bed. I don’t know when my next newsletter will be, but you can find me hanging out in Notes (Substack’s Twitter-like feed, which I LOVE so far — you can read about it HERE).

Until next time,

Jen