Thanks everyone for the support, both informational and emotional.
Sandy had her surgery yesterday at Dr Weiss's and had a complete tummy
maintenance overhaul.  The doc thinks she is FIXED and should do very
well.
 
- Two large insulinomia / islet tumors removed, resulting in 20% less
  pancreas
 
- One adrenal tumor, one gland removed
 
- One liver node, tumor, gone
 
- One chunk of rubber in her intestines which I can't seem to match any
  ware in my house.  This was probably why no meds worked well while she
  was waiting for surgery.
 
It is rather scary for me, because now she has a big scar and bruise
(this is normal) and I am trying to be very careful with her, She acts
likes she feels great and wants to climb, but I made a recovery room
for her with all one level in my nice clean bathroom.  She has LOTs of
post-op medication due to the numerous problems found.  She has eaten
over 2-3 times what she was eating everyday since today in the last 10
hours.  It is the happiest I've been in a month and a half -- I am so at
peace at this moment.  Last night, after the surgery and a visit with
her, I had the first solid 8-hour sleep I'd had since her first crash
(She spent the night at the Dr Weiss's in observation) with no
nightmares.
 
One strange thing is that she is being more vocal than I've ever seen
her.  She clucks and chatters (quietly, as if she is mumbling to herself)
when I am sitting with her.  She does the "curl and stick out the toes
in all directions and stretch"  maneuver, and I suppose she is feeling
pretty good, albeit sore from the surgery.  It must feel great to have a
NORMAL BLOOD SUGAR COUNT, when at least daily, with meds, it was dropping
to the mid 20s over the last month!
 
Later,
Mark Hei
[Posted in FML issue 3868]