Visiting hours aren’t for a couple hours yet but I’ve been in touch with Michael’s overnight nurse and he’s doing well. I’ve also chatted with Michael briefly this morning and he’s exhausted but in great spirits. He says his biggest challenge is unrelenting thirst but he’s not allowed to have anything by mouth yet. Hospital staff says they hope to get his stomach tube out this morning and then he’ll be allowed water.

Today’s activities include sitting him up in a chair later this morning so he can start moving around and we’ll also see the doctor today for a full report. The brief highlights we got from the ICU surgeon last night were really, really good. The major, most dangerous concerns they had about the tumor placement and the procedure itself ended up not being issues and preliminary reports indicate they didn’t have to do a whole lot of mucking around with things like his intestines, so that’s great news for his general recovery.

I will update again this afternoon or evening when I know more. I don’t have any details about recovery and expected length of stay yet but I’m sure we’ll find out today. In the meantime, know that Michael is out of the surgical/post-surgical woods, his vitals and labs are great, and his pain is being well managed (he says his biggest pain issue is back pain from all the lying down and immobility, not from the incision itself). And the most important tidbit bears repeating. THEY GOT THE WHOLE TUMOR!