T-minus 10 days to anticipated surgery

 As most of you have seen, we've had a very busy April.  

Tom, the girls, and I took a lovely 9/10 day trip with travel to Hawaii (Maui specifically).  We did have some hiccups and travel delays on our way out.  What should have been 9am-8p DSM time ended up being 22ish hours at airports and flights and arrival at 11p Maui time.  We routed through Chicago-Seattle-Maui; however our luggage followed our original path to Denver.  It did arrive the next day around 730p.  We had a great time exploring the beach, local farmers markets/craft fairs, whale watching, attending a luau, and relaxing.  We also had beautiful family photos taken at sunset.  

               

We are also celebrating some events early due to our travel and Tom's surgery schedule.  Vivian has her 17th birthday in May, but we are celebrating with her friends later this week and then she was invited to prom for a friend of hers at another school that's a senior.  She'll be attending with a group of girl friends this weekend.  

Currently the plan for Tom and I includes heading up to Mayo on 4/27 to complete lots of pre-op testing starting that afternoon-Thursday.  They are doing bloodwork, CT scans, PET scans, and appointments with the surgeon, the oncology team, and radiation oncology right now.  Surgery is anticipated on Friday 5/1--time won't be determined until the night before.  

We have been told it potentially can be a very long surgery--8-12ish hours, although I'm certain that's variable.  I'm confident Dr. Truty will review the plan again next week, but we've previously been informed they will be taking vessels from his thigh to replace his abdominal vessels invaded by the tumor and his pancreas, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, and first 3 feet of his small intestine is planned for removal.  If you want all the surgery details--this was the blog from 6ish weeks ago with everything we learned at that time (diabetes education, J tube feeding requirements, etc) 
https://tommartindale.blogspot.com/2026/03/radiation-week-2-and-surgery-education.html

As of right now, I have made a hotel reservation across the street from the hospital beginning 4/27-5/31.  There's a potential he will be able to be home sooner, however we want to be sure we have a plan if needed.  My parents and older brother, Jason, will be coming to stay with the girls, but we also have Tom's mom who is local and lots of friends who have offered to help as well.  

We are feeling all the feelings here at the Martindale household:  excited (kinda), anxious, uneasy, sad, etc.  I know Tom has shared with several people directly, but it's a bit weird as he's feeling good right now (off chemo and radiation) but heading into this massive surgery knowing he'll have a long recovery.  Most surgeries work the other way--you feel crappy and expect the surgery to make you better!  

I am planning on keeping the blog updated while at Mayo, but will likely also have some shorter FB posts as well for quick updates.  I will also have Tom's phone during surgery and immediately post op until he is feeling well enough for chatting.