Embolization complete, now on to tumor removal

Shayla tolerated the first of her surgeries today well. Although it took a bit longer than first anticipated, she came out well. Dr. Jackson was the intervention radiologist who performed the embolization at St. Al's. Apparently Dr. Davey was nowhere to be found this morning to do the procedure. I am not sure if it was a communication error, or emergency for Dr. Davey, but regardless, we had a very good, skilled doctor to do Shayla's procedure. He is a Fellow at St. Al's and does the training for the interns there. Shayla's nurse, Laurel, was wonderful too. She kept us informed and had a great bedside manner.

Because of the delay at St. Al's, Dr. Beck was a bit preterbed with the ambulance transport for not getting Shayla to St. Luke's when she wanted her there. However, they did a great job getting us to St. Luke's in 5 minutes (we went with lights and sirens but thankfully it was only to save time, and not emergent!). It wasn't their fault the doctor at St. Al's needed more time to do the first procedure! That and the fact that Shayla was put under general anesthesia and not conscious sedation required more time for her to recover before they could safely transport. [a fun side note: our transport driver was Dave Muir, the step-dad of Jarin's best friend!]

Now (2:30p.m.) she is in surgery with Dr. Beck to remove the tumor. Shayla got sick before going into the OR, but gratefully it was before and not during the procedure. Dr. Beck stepped back and talked to me briefly before leaving for the OR and said she didn't realize that if they didn't get clean margins in the surgery, that the Proton Beam radiation therapy would cause Shayla to go blind. Dr. Chang spoke with her about that today. "That's not acceptable." was Dr. Beck's response. She is going to do her very best to get those negative or "clean" margins we need. (keep praying!)

Another surprise
Dr. Beck told Shayla that there was something she forgot to tell us about, but her cheek from the side of the nose, down to her lip, and into the hollow of her cheek will be numb-permanently because the nerve to that area runs directly through the middle of the tumor. Yes, we know miracles can happen, so if Heavenly Father wants to reveal His hand in this way as well in Shayla, then she will not have the numbness or extent that Dr. Beck expects. Nonetheless, it is a part of the trial we may need to accept. The bright side is that it isn't a paralyzation of the area, only a numbness, that "after the dentist" feeling.

We will know more after the surgery (which should be about 3 hours, so complete at 5:30 p.m. our time), but Dr. Beck and the anesthesiologist are thinking they will admit Shayla to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) for tonight because of the amount of total time under general anesthesia between the two procedures today. Dr. Beck also wants to be able to have the higher dose of pain meds available to her that she can get in the PICU rather than regular patient floors. It will be a long night. Hopefully one in which Shayla feels little pain. I will post more when we know more.