A surgery date, finally......

We have finally heard from the surgeons about what they are planning for Remington's surgery. He is scheduled for his tumor removal on the 16th of July. He is going to be the only one scheduled for that day. Remi's surgery is turning out to be much more involved than we were anticipating. Right now the doctors are planning on removing the 4th rib (the rib that has the tumor), as well as the rib above and below that rib. So... 3rd,4th and 5th ribs will be removed. They really want to be sure of getting all of the cancer. The pediatric surgeon has also notice some other spots on Remington's 8th and 9th ribs as well as down on his diaphram that he considers suspicious. He is not planning on removing these other ribs, but he won't be sure until he can get in there and see the spots. If they find anything on his ribs he will mark those areas and Remi will get a stronger dose of radiation at those spots. The diaphram will be checked out as well, if they see anything there thay will remove the suspect area and graft replacement skin in place. The surgery is scheduled to be 8 hours long. The doctors are figuring 3-4 days in ICU after surgery and then 10-14 days back up on the 4th floor in ICS. After he is released from the hospital he will have a 4-6 week recovery period before they will start the fun and games all over again. The plan is 4 more chemo treatments as well as 2 weeks of radiation therapy. (treatment everyday for 45 min). Keep in mind this is just a rough plan and not set in stone. We are counting on changes in the plan on a regular basis. Once again, thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts during this time in Remington's life. We appreciate it more than you can ever know. Take care and God bless.