Over and done and good

Anya's exam under anesthesia was excruciatingly long yesterday - at least for Will and I.  Thankfully Anya was peacefully asleep for it.  Typically these exams take anywhere from fifteen to forty-five minutes.  After one hour, the OR nurse called to say that the exam was still going on and the doctor was just beginning laser treatment.  This was worrisome to us, but without talking to the doctor, we tried not to jump to any conclusions.  Then, we waited for the doctor to appear.  And waited.  After another hour of waiting, we had both convinced ourselves that something had gone wrong.

But it hadn't.  Doctor O finally showed his face and explained that he had to go immediately to his next case, and wasn't able to make it out to talk to us.  By the time we were talking, Anya was already well into her surgery to remove the mediport.  The news he told us?  Stable.  Basically, there has been no change in either tumor.

The doctor did an additional test yesterday called a fluorescein angiogram.  It uses dye to detect whether the tumor is leaking.  From this test, it appears that the tumor in her left eye may be leaking which could mean that it is still viable.  This did not come as a surprise to the doctor or to us.  This tumor has not followed any rules of what "normal" tumors do, and the fact that part of it may still be viable is okay.  He will continue to treat it with gentle laser treatments until one day, ideally, he can determine that it is not viable.

The surgery to remove her port with smoothly.  Upon waking after anesthesia, she was irritated with the IV in her leg and her throat was dry and raspy.  She was completely wiped out.  She drank some water, but never opened her eyes, and never spoke.  She slept in the car, we arrived home around 9 pm, put her in bed, and she didn't wake until 4:30 this morning at which time she was ravenous.