Sarah's doing great + the surgery was a success!

Hi Everyone,

Robert here. I'm happy to report that everything is going great, B"H! We checked in Sunday morning, and very quickly it became apparent that this was going to be a far more positive experience than last month's no-go. The admitting doctor was great, and rather than accept our "No, we don't have any questions", he started asking probing questions, eventually deciding that a full physical exam of the left hip was in order. To make a long story short, the doctor concluded that Sarah indeed has bursitis, and not just PVNS. Ironically, Sarah's lymphatic massage therapist has been sure all along that Sarah has bursitis, but the therapist wouldn't begin treatment without a doctor confirming the diagnosis. In any case, after Sarah get's back home, she'll start treating the bursitis (PT, ultrasound, steroids, etc.).

As for the surgery itself, the same admitting doctor joined in on the surgery, and so was able to report to me that as far as they can tell for now, they got *all* of the tumor! That, of course, is fantastic news. He added that a follow-up MRI in a few weeks will allow them to see if there is anything left, and/or if any PVNS got out of the joint and into the surrounding tissue. One other point was that the synovium itself was otherwise clear. That surprised me because we had been told several months ago that Sarah's PVNS was the diffuse form, meaning that the entire synovium was inflamed and pre-tumorous. The doctor was adamant that not only was the synovium clear during the surgery, but also that both MRI's taken so far indicate localized PVNS, with just the one tumor. This is also great news, because localized PVNS generally doesn't return if the tumor is fully removed. It's a bit frustrating that we were misinformed for so long and wasted time reading up on and worrying about the wrong kind of PVNS, but we'll definitely take this type of frustration over the frustration of dealing with diffuse PVNS.

As for the time being, Sarah in in general feeling better than she did yesterday. At this point, our only lingering concern is in regards to the possibility of a post-op infection. But other than that, Sarah is in good spirits. BTW, she is on the 8th floor of the Arison Tower of Ichilov, and she'd love to have visitors (hours are from 11am-8:30pm). Of course, the usual caveat visitor applies, i.e. she might need to rest when you arrive.

That's all for now. Please keep up the prayers for Sarah Rachel bat Tova.

P.S. Sarah just called now, and it turns out that if all goes well, she'll be released before Rosh Hashana!