Nige's surgery is upon us

Tomorrow Nige and I are flying up to Auckland and Nige will be checking in to Auckland City Hospital in preparation for his pancreas surgery sometime on Tuesday, 13 April. It's a five hour surgery and he will be in hospital for 5-7 days and then he needs to stay a couple more nights in Auckland near the hospital and once he gets the all-clear we'll fly home again, most likely on the Air Ambulance. The Hawke's Bay Hospital is covering our flights to Auckland and back, and have arranged my accommodation in the Waldorf Apartments (where I stayed last November). The accommodation costs are also covered by the HB Hospital, which is awesome. We thank the Lord for His care for us during this time - the practical needs and the loving care and support we are receiving from the church family at Riverbend Bible Church and praying friends around the world.

Here is the description of Nige's surgery:

The Puestow Procedure

The longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy or Puestow's procedure is the prototypic drainage procedure for patients with marked dilation of the main pancreatic duct (greater than 7–8 mm). An 8–10-cm segment of the pancreatic duct is unroofed and intraductal concretions removed (Figure 22A). The jejunum is divided (Figure 22B) and the opened pancreatic duct is anastomosed to the jejunum (Figure 22C). This allows adequate drainage to enter the jejunum. A jejunojejunostomy reconnects the jejunum to restore continuity of the gastrointestinal tract (Figure 22D). This procedure is successful in relieving pain in 70–80% of patients in the short term. Pancreatic function remains good because there has not been resection of the gland. It is a safe and effective surgery with low morbidity and mortality.

http://www.top5plus5.com/Procedures_files/Surgical%20Therapy.html