Quick Update

We talked to the doctor a little while ago, and there are a couple of possible scenarios at this point.
The first is that based on a little bit of haze on his chest x-ray, he might be fighting a cold or infection. They are calling some technicians in right now to do a CT scan of his chest, and if it looks like congestion, then they will cancel the surgery, put him on some antibiotics and get him totally healthy before doing the surgery next week sometime. If they were to do the surgery with this going on in his chest, then he would almost definitely end up with pneumonia and a lot of other possible problems coming up. We'll find out the results of that tonight sometime.
If all is well and they approve him for the surgery, then 8 am is when they will start. The MRI showed the cysts around both tumors growing, which means that they will attempt to remove both of them. The problem there is that they are both in very difficult places. The one on the cerebellum is very close to the brain stem and very deep in the brain. The one in his brain stem is--well--it's in his brain stem. Not a good place for a tumor. It is also deep in there and most likely very difficult to reach, with a lot of very vital nerves and arteries in the equation.
The plan for the morning is to remove the tumor on the cerebellum first. If that goes quickly and easily, then they will check out the other one and see about removing it. The odds are not very good for getting both of them out tomorrow, because they would not want him in surgery for too long, in which case they would drain the cyst from around the second tumor and close him up to try again in a few months.
Wow--I hope that makes sense to everyone...Feel free to ask questions and definitely feel free to call. We might not have a signal or be in a position to answer, but we do appreciate the phone calls, thoughts, and definitely all of the prayers being said. We serve a very big God and we are trusting Him completely in this situation. Ryan is doing well and besides being tired, is ready for whatever path God takes him on. To Him be the glory!
I'll let you know about the CT scan when we get the results...He just got back from it, so it might even be in the next few minutes.