No there will no radiation.

hopefully they'll get it all!

Heard from San Francisco on Friday. Reggie will have surgery on Dec. 5th. We plan on going to the city on the 4th so I can get settled in to my home away from home. But I'm only 5 blocks from the hospital. Dr. Wang told us it is stage III or IV. Which will be determined during pathology of tumor. He's confident no nodes involved. We both agree that we just want to get on the other side of this surgery so that recovery can begin. We want to go to New Orleans in our RV for Mardi Gras. I plan on posting the whole time Reg is in the hos[pital. I hope you all will be there for me.

Bette,

We will all be here, rooting for you and Reggie!

Hi Bette, now you have a date and a surgical plan. Great. I found that these two things helped me focus and I could move forward. I still had wildly swinging emotions, but having that all important plan in place eased a lot of my fears of the unknown and the thoughts of impending doom and gloom that nearly drowned me.
For me, it was terribly important to be there at the hospital most of every day . Being close( I was a 5 minute walk ) to the hospital just makes it all so much easier. I went back to my room at the lodge for lunch and a rest and then returned to the hospital after an hour or two .
Do post here regularly, I will be keen to read how you both get on and to support you if you need.
Tammy

So glad they are moving relatively quickly. Best of luck - we will be here!

Thank you all very much. I will be a pest while he's in the hospital, don't worry....

Bette - Hope everything goes really well with Reggie's surgery on the 5th. Come here often - there is always someone here to listen and offer support. Thinking about you and Reggie and hoping for the very best outcome!

Hi everyone,

I've been looking around the OCF website. I've noticed a list of books for sale...Can anyone recommend which ones to buy?? I will need some reading material for the day of the 12 - 14 hour surgery. I've 50 Shades of Grey too many times already...:-)

Anything that is light reading might be best. Everyone is different of course, but on my son's surgery day, I couldn't concentrate very well and what helped me tremendously was having my daughter and a friend of mine come with me. They really helped to keep me thinking positively. In the surgery waiting room, there was a monitor that updated everyone on how the surgery was going for the different patients. My daughter and friend stayed the whole day, made me go to lunch with them at the hospital cafeteria.- I couldn't eat except for two bites of a turkey sandwich which I took just to please them! But it kept me busy. After the surgery, there was a special smaller room connected to the surgery waiting room, and the surgeon took us there to update us on how the surgery went. The two special people with me were really helpful in asking the right questions and helping me to remember later what the doctor said. Bette - it would be great if you could have someone with you, but if you have a laptop or smart phone with you, then you can keep in touch with us here, as well. I'll be thinking of you and your husband on surgery day and hoping for everything to go the very best way possible!