May 31

Not much change today. Steve remains sedated and ventilated. His nurse said they collected about a liter of fluid off him yesterday and are hoping to double that today. Steve's dad was in the room when Steve's surgeon stopped by and got the encouraging news that Steve is "inching forward". Steve's liver and kidneys are working, his swelling is decreasing, but there is some concern about the swelling of his intestines.

May 30

Steve remains sedated and intubated. His fever is trending down. His blood pressure has stabilized, so he is off the blood pressure meds. They have started him on a diuretic-Lasix to help clear the excess fluid.

Update for May 29

Steve still remains on a ventilator. His abdomen remains distended and he has a fever. They have installed a central line so he'll start receiving nutrition. He has been moved onto an "air bed" which puts less pressure on his skin. Every day they unhook the ventilator for awhile to test his breathing rate, but his breathing is too shallow for them to make the call to extubate him. So, it looks like Steve's recovery will take awhile. Steve remains on blood pressure medication and heparin.

May 25 evening

To summarize, Steve's condition is improving, but his doctors remain vigilant. Steve remains intubated.
The major two concerns are:
1) Fluid build up in his abdomen. The pressure could shut down the blood flow to his internal organs.
2) Blood clots closing off his reconstructed portal vein.

They are treating him with heparin to reduce the likelihood of clotting and are monitoring his abdominal pressure and adjusting fluid volumes. If the abdominal fluid continues to accumulate, they may have to operate to relieve the pressure. That is why he has to remain intubated.

Steve finally went to the ICU last night at 2 am after a 16 hour surgery. They got all of the tumor, his spleen, gall bladder and half of his pancreas, but he got a new portal vein and 8 units of blood. Currently he is stable, but remains on a ventilator. He is not out of the woods yet, as there are several significant potential complications, but he had / has an incredible surgical team and postoperative team.

May 23

On May 24th at 8:10 am, Steve will be undergoing a subtotal pancreatectomy with portal vein reconstruction. The purpose is to remove a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor. The surgery is anticipated to last 6-8 hours.