Jon began his battle with Stage 4 Cancer last August. After months of chemo, and an intense week of radiation, this part of the battle culminated in surgery to remove the remaining cancer yesterday. Jon and I got to the hospital yesterday at 5:30 AM. For about two hours, we were in the pre-op area talking to lots of different people, signing lots of terrifying things, and Jon was getting a variety of labs and other things necessary to prep for the day. At 7:30, they took him back, and I began a fairly excruciating day of waiting. The first surgery was the liver surgery. That was the one I was most scared of because that was the one where liver failure was a possibility, and if that happened, there's nothing to be done - it's fatal. The liver surgery wrapped up after about 5 of the longest hours of my life. The surgeon came down, took me to a private consultation room (also terrifying) - but then gave us the best news possible. Not only had Jon survived, but the surgeon thinks he was able to remove all the cancerous spots on the liver. There is still a decent chance that it will reoccur in the liver in the future, but for now, there will hopefully be some reprieve. By this point in the day, Jon's mom and my parents had joined me at the hospital. So we all relaxed a little, and I finally got a little something to eat, assuming the worst was behind us. At that time, the GI surgeon took over the task of removing the tumor that started this all. Turns out that it was not only blocking, but somewhat adhered to the colon - so that surgery was more complicated than anticipated. But, in the end, the surgeon was able to remove what was a tennis ball sized tumor. Oof - poor Jon! So the surgery ended up being closer to 10 hours than 8. Once we got the news, our parents left - as it was going to be another 2 hours til Jon was awake and ready to see anyone. But, to my relief, Ray showed up at just the right time. We went out to dinner near the hospital, and then went back to see him when he was awake and settled into his home away from home for the next 5(ish) days. I think it did Jon a lot of good to see Ray's face when he woke up, so I am very glad that worked out. And I can promise you, it did me a world of good to see Jon awake and smiling. So, the next few days, we'll be back and forth from the hospital a lot. He's not up for visitors quite yet, but I'll let you know if that changes. If you are inclined to send a card or anything, he's in room F4624 at UW Hospital in Madison.