We were up at 6:00 AM this morning in order to each have a shower and be on the road by 7:30. Jay's surgery was scheduled for 10:30 but he was required to be at Sunnybrook Hospital by 8:30 for pre-operative admission. The traffic was heavy as usual and we arrived at the hospital by 8:45 a little late but still in plenty of time to prepare him. His surgery lasted approximately 3 hours and he was in recovery for only 45 minutes before being sent to a room for the night. Dr. Francis Wright, his surgical oncologist, came to let us know that his surgery went very well; they removed the walnut sized affected node and some surrounding tissue, which tested negative for melanoma.

Jay was in great spirits when we went up to see him and relatively pain free, however he was still feeling the effects of the anaesthetic and we were told that once the local wore off in his groin he would begin to feel the discomfort. He will be released tomorrow, providing he has a good night and there will be a home care nurse assigned to attend to the drains and dressing for the next two weeks until the sutures are removed. Dr. Wright anticipates the wound taking four to six weeks to heal completely and after that Jay will be seeing a medical oncologist to arrange further treatment, in the form of immunotherapy. Meanwhile he will recover at home with the love and care of Rachel, myself (while I'm here), extended family and a large network of great friends.

Whenever Rachel and I were in the lobby with the cell phones on we received a huge outpouring of kindness, love and support from our friends and family, calling to see how he was. My "boy" is doing great and seeing how well he is handling this whole thing has given me such a great comfort. I know I am definitely in the right place right now and Rachel and I will both sleep well tonight.