A short while ago, the surgical team finished resecting the tumor. David was put back to sleep and was given an MRI (he has not been sewed back up yet).
It is incredibly difficult for the naked eye to differentiate between tumor tissue and brain tissue. MRIs are used toshow doctors what part is tumor and what part is brain. David and Dana fought so hard to be treated at MD Anderson because it is only at MD Anderson that David could be given an MRI during surgery, potentially catching left over tumor that was not caught by the initial resecting.
And this is exactly what he needed.
While the surgical team thought they originally got all of the tumor out, the MRI given during surgery showed they did not. It turned out the tumor exists microscopically farther than they expected.
So, the team is currently going back in and cutting out more of the tumor (and the brain tissue around the area) in order to make sure as much of the tumor has been taken out as possible.
David will not be woken up for this part. We suspect it is because the doctors feel confident that he does not need to be awake for this part of surgery and that they know what they are doing. But we all feel a bit of anxiety as we pray that the doctors will touch only what is necessary and not anything that would cause any lack of normal cognitive, speech or motor function.
While it is hard to continue to wait, it is obvious that the staff at MD Anderson is good. So, we know he is in good hands.
After this final resecting, the team plans to put David back together. So, we feel like we're on the home stretch.
We should have another update at 4pm!
