Well, Matt is out of surgery and has been in recovery for the past couple of hours. He looks good…well, as good as someone who has just had their neck sliced open can look.
It’s been a morning of mixed reviews and good news/bad news:
The good news is that the scan showed that the lymph nodes below the diaphragm were clear.
The bad news is that there was a cluster of lymph nodes under his arm that were “suspicious.”
The good news is that they were able to remove the lymph nodes they needed to.
The bad news is that the smaller lymph nodes were “diagnostically inconclusive.”
The good news is that they were able to remove “Hadji the Hodgkin” completely.
The bad news is that Matt now has a really big scar and a surgical drain and will have to spend the night in the hospital.
The good news is that the pathologist now has the largest sample he will ever need to confirm the diagnosis.
The bad news is that it’s still “suspicious for lymphoma” (the doctor’s exact words), though the pathologist will be unable to determine for sure what type (Hodgkin’s/non-Hodgkins) until the middle of next week.
The good news is that Matt has been transferred out of recovery to a regular hospital room.
The bad news is that he’s not IN his regular hospital room. They’re still cleaning it. Matt is apparently lost in the nether regions of Zale-Lipshy Hospital with his transfer nurse. I’m KNEW I shouldn’t have left to go get lunch…
So there you are. You now know what we know. Even though the news wasn’t the clean bill of health we were hoping for, things could certainly be far worse. We’re thankful for your prayers and will continue to update as we have more news.