Good Evening Team Barb,

Until this point I’ve purposely remained silent on this blog for a number of reasons, but most importantly for sake of keeping the focus of things where it belongs; Barbara and her path to wellness.

But I promised to post a brief update in Barb’s stead once the surgery was through and we knew she was stable enough to feel comfortable sharing her progress.  So, here goes…

I was with Barb all the way through pre-Op, until they wheeled her into the OR this morning around 7:30am.  I proceeded to the family lounge area where I was greeted by my father, Sammy.  Barb’s mom & sister, Elaine and Ann,  were soon to follow.  We all spent the day together passing the hours as creatively and healthily as we could.  I worked on my laptop some, Ann read, Sammy texted, and Elaine attempted some yoga-moves to keep loose.

UPenn has a great process for keeping waiting families updated on the surgical progress of their loved ones.  About every 2hrs an assigned nurse visits up to thirty active ORs to gather progress notes on the surgical floor.  Once complete, she visits the family lounge where patients’ families will gather for general status reports.  We were fortunate to have 3-4 updates through the day, each with encouraging news of Barb’s steps through the different surgeries.

Once each of the attending surgeons was through with his portion of the surgery, they called the lounge to give me a brief summary of things.  In total, the procedures themselves went very well without any complications.  The double mastectomy was completed without any unanticipated steps or findings.  And the reconstruction seemed to have gone just as well.  In total, Barb was sedated for about 10hrs when they removed the breathing tube and moved her into post-Op.  I was fortunate enough to join her soon after where I found her to be expectedly sleepy but lucid.  She made a few jokes about the funny shower-cap she had to wear for the surgery, and was sure to ask if I had eaten all day.  It’s easy to see she’s started bouncing back already…

Of course we have a few days of recovery to get through, but I’m sure we’ll be OK.  There’s a certain toughness Barb possesses as you already know.  She’s just one of the most resilient people you’ll ever know.  One step at a time; slow & steady wins the race.

I’m sure Barb will post something herself in the next few days.  Until then, Please feel free to send her some cheer via Text or Email.  And kindly identify yourself in case Barb doesn’t already have your number in her phone…  Every time she laughs, she gets a little better…and a little closer to getting home.  So let’s see if we can speed up the recovery the best way Barb knows how to heal…

barb6438@yahoo.com

(m) 570.407.0780

Thank You for all of your love and support.  It’s not just words, we feel it every day.  If it takes a village to raise a family, I think you’ve been part of our metropolis the past six months.

BARBSTRONG and God Bless.

-Salvatore