FINALLY A LITTLE GOOD NEWS!
Steve underwent 6 hours of surgery yesterday. He was very brave and wasn’t even scared before he went in to surgery. Right now he is trying to rest and deal with immense pain. He is using a pump that delivers shots of morphine every ten minutes, but frankly it doesn’t seem like it’s working. Despite all of the pain, Steve is in a very cheerful mood and very happy with the outcome.
The surgeon (Dr. Cheng) removed his femur (thigh bone) almost up to his hips. Then he used his tibia (shin bone) and attached to the little bit of femur with a metal plate. They completely removed the tumor, along with the rest of his leg, which means technically that Steve is rid of cancer! His remaining leg is about a foot long, which should be great for using a prosthetic.
We are all very happy with his small remaining leg because only a few days before, the team of surgeons from MN and WI said they would have to remove his leg all the way up to his hip bone, leaving NO chance of using a prosthetic leg (as the previous update says). He also was experiencing his first ‘phantom’ leg pain yesterday, meaning he could feel his foot even though it wasn’t there. Surprisingly he said he enjoys the feeling!
We are SO proud of Steve!
We are also very thankful that Steve’s family is here, not to mention many others who came to support us.