Prayers for my Dad

[swanie]

My Dad is going in for his cancer surgery at 11:00 at UCI and I would appreciate any and all good vibes and prayers that everyone could send his way.

For those of you that don't know...he was diagnosed with a recurrence of colon cancer in September. He's already endured 2 months of chemo and radiation and now they are going in to perform a fairly radical surgery. They are pretty sure the chemo and radiation destroyed the cancer but since it was right next to a lymph node they feel his best chance to beat this is to remove the rest of his colon and rectum.

His recovery isn't going to be easy, and if they can't effectively "reconstruct" him internally...this could be a huge life changer for him. One of his biggest fears is being stuck with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. The one bright spot in all of this is that they have told him he could be in the hospital for up to 10 days. He won't take it easy once he gets home and he's hasn't managed his diabetes for months, so the longer they keep him the better.

I know I can't do anything to help right now, but I really wanted to be out there for MY peace of mind. I was supposed to be driving out to California today with my 4 year old in tow so I could be at the hospital. My Mom (she's been divorced from my Dad since I was 2) had agreed to watch Ms. L so I could be with my Dad for a few days. Well, she informed me on Sunday that she has a scheduling conflict today and can't watch her. On top of that, they've decided to head to Lake Havasu to take care of their boat, so she can't help the rest of the week. Seriously, how can one person be that flaky?

On the bright side, I'm putting all of my nervous energy to good use. The laundry is almost done, bills are paid, and house should be cleaned by the time I pick up the kids at school today. I can't sit still right now...I'll be even more of a basketcase than I usually am.

Thank you all for your help,

swanie