Surgery Update

Jeff is out of surgery and resting comfortably. They were unable to remove the tumor laproscopically due to its size and the doctor did not feel that opening him up all the way was warranted given the risks and when an ileostomy would get us the desired outcome and be just as manageable. He did discover more bile in Jeff's abdominal cavity than he expected as well as not liking its appearance (he sent it off for culturing--suspicious of an infection). He also identified that there are multiple small lesions on his abdominal wall; could be new tumor locations as it tests positive for cancer or been there awhile. All we know is that it's not been identified on any previous PET scans.
Although Jeff and I are disappointed that the tumor wasn't removed we hope that bowel control will still be possible with this option which was really our long term goal. We are desperate to have our old lives back as long as possible; we still have so many things we want to do. We will proceed with radiation in about a month. The radiation oncologist feels that he can make a real difference in size and the colo-rectal surgeon is willing to have another go at it if the tumor will be more manageable.
Our lives never seem to be calm or easy and we are grateful for the support of our friends who are on this roller coaster ride with us. Recently a co-worker of mom's suddenly lost her husband, on his b'day nonetheless less; thank god they had spent the day together doing "couple things". Reminds us to PLEASE never forget to tell those you love that you do; don't assume they know. And get your damn colonoscopy! Love you all!