Tuesday morning update....(from our aunt )

5:00 left hotel
5:30 Doug checked in
5:45 Doug called in for prep
6:50 Family of Doug Canfield was calledFirst, they showed us directions to the waiting room where we would be while Doug was in surgery. Then they took us to the pre-op room to see him.Doug said he wished we could have been with him during that time, because he learned so much.He said a physician’s assistant, Heather Hall, had spent a fair amount of time with him. She said that she is the person who will answer his questions. She used charts to go through and explain the entire procedure to him, all the tubes he’d have, etc. She also gave him a web site for patient family discussion boards, etc.He said recovery would be 6 weeks to 2 months. He will be very weak and tired. Even food won’t taste the same, because everything in his body will be working to heal it.Heather told Doug that he’s about the healthiest patient they’ve ever had.Dr. Cameron also visited Doug at some point during this time.Either Heather or Dr. Cameron, he didn’t say who, told him that the greatest risks are infection and bleeding and that there are no alternatives for this surgery.
6:53 Jeanette, a nurse who will be with him today came in and verified information with him (who he was, who his doctor is, etc.) She said that she is the one who will give the patient representative updates during surgery. She said we will get the first update after the room is set up and they are ready to begin. After that, we will get updates every two hours.Doug already had an IV in, and they had told him that they would give him his thyroid medicine tomorrow through the IV. He said they had also given him a shot in the stomach to prevent blood clots.
7:03 The anesthesiologist came and asked some more questions. We were in a small area, so we weren’t close enough to hear any details, but she explained to Doug the anesthesia procedures they would do.
7:05 Another doctor came.
7:08 They took Doug to the operating room.At that point the rest of us came to the designated waiting room. It is a nice room with a patient representative at a counter. She took Doug’s name and asked our relationship. She said that she did not expect the surgery would really get started until
8:30 and suggested we go downstairs and get some breakfast. She is the one who will give us the updates during surgery. We have done that and are now back in the waiting room.