OOOO! Fun! We got the path report.

After about 5 different types of shenanigans on my part, to get the hospital to mail us the path report, finally plan #5 came through for me, and I received by FAX today, both the pathology report and the surgical report. (Always ask for these after an operation. Firstly, because you literally own them. Secondly, because the path report gives you the details, stuff the doctors don't even tell you (!), and the surgical report is like an ongoing dictation of everything that happened during the surgery and is fun to read.)

Results:

No negative surprises. Hooray!

1. The three spots were indeed tumors from his bladder that had metastasized. Since he had stage 2 prostate cancer also, I wanted to know if perchance the tumors were from that. No other tumors on liver, and they even held the liver up and did a scan of it during surgery to make sure.

2. They took Wild Billy's gallbladder out! We didn't know that. It was fine. Also, a lymph node came attached to the gallbladder, and that was fine, too.

3. The surgeon did a visual check of the abdominal areas he could see and didn't see anything else suspicious. Always good! They didn't seem to do a special check of that kidney thing, which I wish they had. But I think it might've been impossible to see.

4. Then they washed him out with warm saline solution (sounds cozy!) and closed his incision with some kind of dura-glue stuff. That's why no sutures. Oh, that Dr. Shen has tricks up his sleeves! Gotta love the guy.

But see, all of the above information, we wouldn't have ever known if we hadn't learned to ask for these reports. (And they don't love giving out these reports, so you have to get a hang for the strategy. Took me five attempts to get my victory. Ask me, if you ever need to know how to do this.) So there ya go. Info that I hope you never, ever need.

(Back at Duke, when I first asked Dr. Duke Surgeon, El Creepozoid, to send the path report, he LITERALLY said to me, "What does this look like, a FED EX office?" and wouldn't send it. Wow. I got it another way. Also left Duke.)

Love from the utterly snowbound, blizzarded, ice-cold, WhatGlobalWarming Drennans!