American Idol has become a focus

We're numbing our brains.

Today was... okay. Eh.

We met with the tippity-top of the tippy-top surgeon pie for resection surgery. In a nutshell, he advised that mom is still a candidate for a resection, which means she is discounted as a transplant candidate. This, however, is NOT for sure yet. Nothing has been decided. We're looking at another week.

Yes, this maddening treatment process is an either or either. You get neither as a backup choice if one pans out negatively.

To be fair, the initial surgeon that discounted mom as a resect candidate was likely incorrect. Superiors -- on both the resection and transplant teams -- have deduced that a resection is possible. That doesn't mean it's the better option.

Coming out of a resect cancer-free certainly does not result in an an enviable margin. However, a transplant is no senior prom (gosh, that's not a serious comparison; senior prom can be a total bomb!) A resect means they have to regrow part of her liver if at less than 25% of liver is still able to exist after the resect. But, in the end, her liver will have to regrow or re-adapt anyway.

Should we move forward with a resection, it could still be roadblocked if perhaps any cancer has spread into the stomach lining or lymph nodes. However, today's surgeon was impressive in that he clearly knew mom's scan, her test results. He would be doing the resection surgery and showed exactly how he would do it, including how he would replace arteries coming in-and-out of the liver.

Despite all of this seriously frightening madness and the fact that our heads and spaces have been in transplant land, this isn't terrible news. All this means is that mom's case has risen to the top of the surgeon hierarchy and the very, very best are reviewing and weighing in on her treatment option. As I'm sure all of you can imagine, mom has managed to capture a serious, heartfelt want to fix her. Walking through the GI hallways this very evening, she received a nod walking down the hallway from a top surgeon who I didn't even know. He graciously informed us that we'll be meeting with he and the very, very, very top person at the top of the GI madness ice cream sundae no later than tomorrow.

We stay positive and hopeful. We must.

PS: mom is rooting for both of the last two dudes on American Idol -- she likes them both. Sometimes she likes the showman, sometimes she likes the underdog. She thinks, perhaps, that the underdog should win.