From Suzanne: I spoke with Kim around 8 p.m. this evening. She had just finished a long day of being poked and prodded in preparation for her surgery tomorrow. Steve arrived in Houston today, as did her sister, Robin. They were having dinner at the Olive Garden before heading to the hotel for a quick night's sleep. Kim needs to be back at the hospital at 5:15 a.m. to get ready for surgery. The doctor plans to start the surgery promptly at 7:00 a.m. and believes it will last a minimum of 8-10 hours.
The surgeon first plans to remove three of Kim's four tumors, as well as draining the attached cyst. There is a fourth tumor (the largest one) that is deeper in her cervical spine and may be tricky to get to. The doctor really would like to remove it, as he feels it could be causing swelling in her spinal cord and contributing to her numbness. However, he will have to determine once he is in there whether he can remove it safely or if the risk is simply too great. As I said before, the surgery will probably be at least 8-10 hours and probably much longer if he addresses the fourth tumor. (A few days ago, the doctor completed his longest surgery ever - 20 hours - on another VHL patient.) Steve will update me when he is able & I will post her status on the blog as often as possible.
Keep praying and keep watching the blog for updates...
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