Success! Here's to a new life.

Wow, what a week!

After the lows of last fortnight, Cass's surgery was a go ahead last night. The process started on Monday when she was admitted to the Wesley Hospital. Three days of treatment to raise her platelet count was conducted, however it did come with an experience that wasn't pleasant for her. The amount of blood tests she had took a toll on her vascular system to an extent that all her veins would collapse as soon as a needle or canular was placed in them. A fairly major concern as the treament was time critical. The doctors had to perform a procedure where they place a line and tube into the Chest and tap into the vein of the heart called a center line. This was a success, however suffice to say a fairly painful experience. The treatment continued which raised her platelet count to a very safe level which eased our minds a great deal.

Yesterday 4pm Cass was wheeled into the operating theatre, a worrying and stressful time my mum, Cass's mum, Samuel and I couldn't stand hanging around the hospital waiting. We decided to ease the mind a bit with a stroll around the shops. This gave us the opportunity to grab a bite to eat, it actually made the time pass by very quickly.

We returned to the hospital almost three hours later to find out that Cass was still in theatre unsure on how much longer and with no feedback on the progress of the Op it was tense times. An hour later we were notified that she was now in recovery but would be down there for quite a while. Just after 9pm Cass was back in her room, 5 hrs later, very sore, very drowsy but happy to see us. We left not long after to allow her to get some well earned rest.

Today arriving at the hospital Cass's condition was very good considering what she had gone through. Although we knew in great detail what the operation involved the surgeon was still unsure on the extent of damage. He couldn't give us complete answers as the only was they could be explained was after he started the surgery. This morning the surgeon visited Cass before I arrived and detailed what he had done.

Just to give a brief insight into what Cass has gone through without going into too much detail the last 12 months has been a tough time. July last year she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, this was caught early, however this still required Chemo and still requires regular testing and treatment. The reason for this surgery was indirectly related to this, Cass has had some digestive issues for some time but these have been getting worse over the years. Due to this Dr's had said that due to her Cancer if it did become aggressive again apart from reoccuring in the same spot it will attack the weakest organ in her body. This being her intestine (large), after a considerable amont of testing we decided that surgery was the only option which was what was performed last night. 26cm of her large intestine was removed and tested for cancer, the result's came back negative, an awesome result and a massive relief.

The road to recovery will be long but Cass is the most positive person I know. Through all the highs and lows she has never had a negative outlook and has never once complained about how life has dealt her an unfair hand. Here's hoping that we can now put this last 12 months behind us. Although you can never be too careful with cancer there is now one major concern that we can leave behind and begin living a somewhat less stressful existance.