Path is back

Today we had a family meeting and got some questions answered including the results of the pathology report. For those medically inclined the report was T4N2, but the N2 is based on 2 subaortic nodes so per Sugarbaker he feels it is more of an N1. The lung was epithelial cells, the diaphragm and pericardium were mixed cells. For those not medically inclined this is good news. It means that there was a big tumor that had spread into the lung that is now removed and that some of the cancer cells spread to local lymph nodes, but not to any of the further away lymph nodes. This means that he will likely have many good years to come.
Sugarbaker also said that he might go home on Sunday or Monday (apartment home, not Tucson home), but we are doing our best not to focus on that because plans can change and we don't want to be disappointed if we are still sitting here next Thursday. In addition he said that dad would have follow up a week after discharge and if things are good then he could go home to Tucson and just come back for follow up at 6 weeks...we are really not counting on that because we just don't see it happening, but keep those thoughts in your prayers. Right now my dad needs to focus on walking through his front door and having Connor jump up on him with glee while Rosie jumps on the couch awaiting her special pets.
Dads spirits are definitely boosted today. We are waiting for the results on his am abdominal xray to see if they can feed through the tube to stimulate the gut. He had cranberry juice which he tolerated well this morning. Next he gets prune juice.