The chaplin Becky Swanson just came to visit and say hello. She apologized for not being able to see her preoperative. We prayed and she told me where the chapel is (7th floor).

Dr. Sutherland just came to talk to me. He is very nice. He said they are waiting for the islet cell yield. He said as far as pancreases go on a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst, hers was a four as far as condition goes...which was good news, because less scarring could mean a higher yield. He said that condition of the pancreas does not necessarily corelate with the amount of pain one is having. I guess it all depends on the proximity of the damage to the nerve system.

He took her spleen, and the anastimosis is completed. He suggested we not put in a J tube to replace the one she had, because the plumming hook up is complete, and she will have a naso-gastric tube. She won't like the NG tube, but Dr. Sutherland said that she will have it for about 5 days and then pulled, as opposed to a J tube which will require another surgery to discontinue. She will be on TPN for a couple of weeks he says. She hated her J tube anyway, and was always worred that it was sticking out from under her blouse. One of her goals is to eat again, so maybe if she concentrates on that for the next week while she has the NG tube it might soften the blow, because she hates NG tubes. He asked me what I thought, and I told him that I would trust his judgement. He said they would know more about the islet yield in a couple of hours.